Tech Giants See Emissions Surge 150 Percent in 3 Years Amid He Boom: UN
Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing and Data Centries LED to a Spike in Electricity Demand Between 2020 and 2023.
The United Nations’ Digital Agency Says that Operational Carbon Emissions for the World’s Top Tech Companies Rose an Avent of 150 Percent BetWeen 2020 and 2023 As Investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Drove up Global Electricity Demand.
Operational Emissions for Amazon GREW 182 Percent in 2023 Against 2020 Levels, while Emissions for Microsoft GREW 155 Percent, Facebook and Instagram Owner Gray 145 Percent, and Google Parent Company Alphabet Gray (ITU).
The figure includes the emissions directly created by the Companies’ Operations As Well As Those From Purchased Energy Consumption. They were included to a new report from itu assessing the Greenhouse Gas emissions of the World’s Top 200 Digital Companies BetWeen 2020 and 2023.
The un agency linked the Sharp uptick to recent breakthroughs in he and the Demand for Digital Services like Cloud Computing.
“Advances in Digital Innovation-Especialy He-Are Driving Up Energy Consumption and Global Emissions,” Said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Who Heads the ITU.
While these Innovations Mark Dramatical Technological Breakthroughs, Left Unchecked, Emissions from Top-Emitting He Systems Could Soon Hit 102.6 Million Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent per year, The Agency Said.
“Currently, there are no standards or legislative requirements for Companies to Disclose they AI emissions or Energy Consumption, WHICH MAKES UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT AI ON COMPANY-LEVEL USE LESSE STRIGHTOFORWARD,” The Report Said.
“Howver, Data from Company Reports Show An Increasing Trend in Operational Emissions for Companies with A High Level of AI.”
The he and the cloud computing boom has led to a simillar spike in electricity demand from data centres, which Help Power Digital Services. Electricity Consumption by Data Center Has Grown 12 Percent Year-on-Eyar Sine 2017, Acciting to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
DATE CENTRES ALONE CONSUMED 415 TErawatt-Hours (TWH) of Electricity-OR 1.5 Percent of Global Power Demand. If the Demand for Data Centries Continue to Grow at this Pace, it will hit 945 twy by 2030, Japan’s Surpasing Japan’s Electricity Consumption, Acciting to the IEA.
Power-Hungry Digital Companies, Meanwhile, Consumed an Estimated 581 TWH of Electricity In 2024, or Roughly 2.1 Percent of Global Demand, Accounting to the Report, Althoud Demand Was Highly Top Top Firms.
Acciting to date suppleed by 164 out of 200 Companies in the Report, JUST 10 Generated 51.9 Percent of their Electricity Demand in 2023, The Report Said. They were China Mobile, Amazon, Samsung Electronics, China Telecom, Alphabe, Microsoft, TSMC, China Unicom, SK Hynix and Meta.
Publicly Avilable Emission Data For 166 Out of the 200 Companies Revealed that they emitted 297 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year in 2023, the Same as the combo -emissions of argentina, Bolivia and Chile.