this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2026
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‘Just an unbelievable amount of pollution’: how big a threat is AI to the climate? (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 5 days ago by homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
35 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/32465427

Datacentres consume just 1% of the world’s electricity but may soon demand much more. Their share of US electricity is projected to more than double to 8.6% by 2035, according to BloombergNEF, while the IEA projects datacentres will account for at least 20% of the rich world’s growth in electricity demand to the end of the decade.

“This idea that the lower cost of renewables alone will drive decarbonisation – it’s not enough,” said Daly. “Because if there’s a huge source of energy demand that wants to grow, it will land on these stranded fossil fuel assets.”

Tech companies have resisted pressure to provide detailed data on their AI energy footprints,

The IEA estimates that AI could boost technically recoverable oil and gas reserves by 5% and cut the cost of a deepwater offshore project by 10%. Big oil is even more bullish. “Artificial intelligence is, ultimately, within the industry, going to be the next fracking boom,” Mike Sommers, head of the American Petroleum Institute, told Axios.

At the same time, the oil and gas industry says AI can cut its carbon intensity, for instance by analysing satellite data to spot methane leaks. But even here, critics say there is a gap between digital insights and corporate actions.

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[–] kalkulat@lemmy.world -3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Nuclear energy is never good news.

Solar energy can boil water too. At much lower cost, 10x faster build times, and MUCH less waste ... none that has to be guarded for centuries.

Never safe, never clean, never too cheap to meter. The exact opposite of the sales pitches. Rarely built without taxpayer dollars. Name the companies willing to insure one.

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Crazy people still get downvoted in Lemmy for reminding everyone that Nuclear energy is the most expensive form of generating power while solar, wind, and water are the cheapest.

[–] LwL@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

People just eat the "nuclear waste isn't a problem actually ignore that in some places we're already seeing it wasn't stored safely aftet all" propaganda from the nuclear lobby right up.

And forget that just because nuclear plants are pretty damn safe when everything is done properly, people are notoriously great at not doing things properly, hence why 2 of the things have melted down so far (though i should say the same applies to hydro, except I only know of 1 disaster instead of 2, and the financial damage is less because water doesnt contaminate the ground for forever. Killed a lot of people though).

I'll take it over fossil fuels still because co2 is also a huge problem, and having nuclear waste at all is a bigger problem than adding slightly more while we transition to full renewables.

[–] RamRabbit@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

generating power while solar, wind, and water are the cheapest

When you include storage in your cost calculations, this is far, far from the case. If you don't include storage, you are pairing renewables with natural gas peaker plants, which defeat a good bit of the point of renewables being fossil-fuel-free.