Inside the AI race: can data centres ever truly be green?
From the deserts of the United Arab Emirates to the outskirts of Ireland’s capital, the energy demands of AI applications and training running through these centres are driving the surge of investment into fossil fuels. This threatens to subvert global efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main driver of climate change. To limit rising temperatures, global emissions must fall by about half by 2030. Tech companies point to their record as big investors in clean energy in an effort to deal with their emissions, but much of this is backed by green power credits. This is a controversial form of investing in the build-out of clean energy because it is far from guaranteed to compensate for actual energy consumption.
