These four charts sum up the state of AI and energy
1 min read
Summary
An International Energy Agency (IEA) report has concluded that AI will drive significant increases in electricity demand.
Data centres used 0.3 terawatt hours of electricity in 2020 but this is expected to increase nearly 30% to nearly 1,000 terawatt hours in the next five years, which will account for more than Japan’s total electricity consumption in 2023.
The increase in demand is expected to be met by a combination of fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewables, with the IEA being relatively optimistic about the potential for renewables.
However, the report also concludes that the demand from data centres is going to be far outstripped by the combined impact of electric vehicles, air-conditioning and domestic appliances.
In addition, data centres pose a unique challenge to the power grid as they tend to be clustered together and close to population centres, which will place a strain on local infrastructure.