Popular Science published an excellent analysis on March 25 detailing AI’s exploding power demands and how developers are responding to the growing challenge of sourcing the generating power they will need. The challenge is illustrated in a recent report by the IEA that estimates the AI models and cryptocurrency mining operations could result in a doubling of power demands from data centers globally. Another recent study estimates that “energy demands from AI servers in 2027 could be on par with those of Argentina, the Netherlands or Sweden combined.”
Those findings are in line with remarks made by Open AI CEO Sam Altman during a panel discussion at January’s WEF conference in Davos. There, Altman is quoted as saying AI’s “enormous” energy needs will require a “breakthrough” in low carbon generation technology soon.
“We still don’t appreciate the energy needs of this technology,” Altman told attendees. “There’s no way to get there without a breakthrough. We need [nuclear] fusion or we need radically cheaper solar plus storage or something at massive scale.”
But getting to a new, radical solution at massive scale will inevitably take many years to accomplish. Unfortunately, AI, cryptocurrency mining and – much more so – electric vehicle charging, along with normal population and economic growth, are set to require a doubling or more of generation capacity in the near term. If the power isn’t there, the technologies can’t progress according to plan.
Complicating matters for power providers is the drive by governments at all levels to force retirement, often prematurely, of some of the most reliable, plentiful, and affordable forms of generation. For the past decade, this drive has focused mainly on forcing coal-fired power plants off the grid and replacing them mainly with less-emitting natural gas plants. More recently, however, the drive to lower emissions has begun to focus increasingly on also retiring gas-fired plants.
Read More: In the new world of EVs and AI, renewable green energy means more gas or coal
In the new world of EVs and AI, renewable green energy means more gas or coal
Popular Science published an excellent analysis on March 25 detailing AI’s exploding power demands and how developers are responding to the growing challenge of sourcing the generating power they will need. The challenge is illustrated in a recent report by the IEA that estimates the AI models and cryptocurrency mining operations could result in a doubling of power demands from data centers globally. Another recent study estimates that “energy demands from AI servers in 2027 could be on par with those of Argentina, the Netherlands or Sweden combined.”
Those findings are in line with remarks made by Open AI CEO Sam Altman during a panel discussion at January’s WEF conference in Davos. There, Altman is quoted as saying AI’s “enormous” energy needs will require a “breakthrough” in low carbon generation technology soon.
“We still don’t appreciate the energy needs of this technology,” Altman told attendees. “There’s no way to get there without a breakthrough. We need [nuclear] fusion or we need radically cheaper solar plus storage or something at massive scale.”
But getting to a new, radical solution at massive scale will inevitably take many years to accomplish. Unfortunately, AI, cryptocurrency mining and – much more so – electric vehicle charging, along with normal population and economic growth, are set to require a doubling or more of generation capacity in the near term. If the power isn’t there, the technologies can’t progress according to plan.
Complicating matters for power providers is the drive by governments at all levels to force retirement, often prematurely, of some of the most reliable, plentiful, and affordable forms of generation. For the past decade, this drive has focused mainly on forcing coal-fired power plants off the grid and replacing them mainly with less-emitting natural gas plants. More recently, however, the drive to lower emissions has begun to focus increasingly on also retiring gas-fired plants.
Read More: In the new world of EVs and AI, renewable green energy means more gas or coal