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Tech Sector Emissions and Energy Use Grow with Rise of AI: Report
- A 2023 report from a leading global telecommunications agency and a benchmarking organization found that among 200 top digital companies, both carbon emissions and electricity consumption have increased.
- The increase was largely fueled by significant growth in AI development and a rising need for data center capacity, resulting in a 12% annual rise in electricity usage from 2017 to 2023.
- The report revealed that 166 companies emitted 297 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2023 and that 164 companies consumed 581 terawatt-hours of electricity, accounting for 2.1% of global use.
- Between 2020 and 2023, Amazon experienced the largest increase in operational emissions at 182%, followed by significant rises for Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet, whose emissions grew by approximately 155%, 145%, and 138% respectively, driven largely by the energy demands of AI-related data centers.
- The report calls for enhanced transparency, science-aligned climate strategies, and collaborative actions to manage the tech sector’s environmental impact and support global decarbonization goals.
28 Articles
28 Articles
Indirect carbon emissions generated by four of the largest technology companies focused on artificial intelligence, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta have increased by 150% between 2020 and 2023 to the extent that they needed to consume more energy for data centres, according to a report from the International Telecommunications Union (UIT), the UN Digital Technology Agency, transmitted Reuters, taken by News.ro.
Big Tech’s indirect emissions jumped 150% in 3 years amid AI boom, U.N. report says
Indirect carbon emissions from the operations of four of the leading AI-focused tech companies—Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta—rose on average by 150% from 2020 to 2023, as they had to use more power for energy-demanding data centers, a United Nations report said on Thursday. The use of artificial intelligence is driving up global indirect emissions because of the vast amounts of energy required to power data centers, the report by the Int…
An Uno organization has investigated the energy consumption of 200 tech companies, many are lagging behind their goals. Deutsche Telekom is one of the top consumers, but is praised for its transparency.
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