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The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on Tuesday has alerted the public that the use of data-intensive technologies, specifically artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, is growing faster than the current electricity infrastructure can handle.
While a data centre facility can be built and connected to the grid and the general public within two to five years, expanding transmission lines and other grid infrastructure can take more than ten years to be updated, due to lengthy planning, approval, and construction processes.
Data centre and AI consumption is expected to almost double by 2030, equaling about three percent of the global energy demand, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Additionally, worldwide investments in data centres and their infrastructure are estimated to roughly double by 2050, from around $800 billion per year in 2026 to $1.8 trillion per year in 2050. This has begun to raise concerns about the future reliability and resilience of global energy systems.
This is not the only concern surrounding AI and data centres. Concerns regarding the usage of AI are multifaceted, ranging from environmental to economic to civil rights. Researchers such as Dr. Shaolei Ren have argued that AI negatively impacts the water supply, stating that training a model like GPT-3 in Microsoft’s data centers could consume around 700,000 litres of clean freshwater.
Large data centre facilities can use millions of gallons of drinking water a day to cool hot servers. Moreover, many data centres are built in dry regions, which can threaten locals drinking water and worsens already severe droughts. Furthermore, environmental activist Erin Brockovich argues that data centres release harmful smog-forming pollutants like nitrogen oxides and fine soot.
The placement of data centres along with their environmental impacts have also led to arguments of environmental racism, resource depletion, and the unequal distribution of industrial burdens on marginalized and low-income communities. Economic concerns run along the same vein, with local residents worrying that the high cost of utility bills and environmental damage outweigh the local payoff of purported jobs and tax revenue. Additionally, a report from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) found that data centers generate constant, loud noise from cooling fans and heavy equipment, harming nearby residents’ quality of life.
The UN acknowledges that many of these issues are extremely hard to solve, yet the problem of grid expansion remains unresolved. The IEA has proposed three ideas to help ensure that AI deployment and development can benefit the energy sector, rather than impacting electricity systems: (1) Proactive management of data centre project pipelines and electricity sector investment can support adequate and reliable electricity for the sector without adversely affecting prices; (2) Approaches that promote electricity system flexibility can help accelerate grid connections and ensure electricity affordability; and (3) Removing barriers to AI adoption in the energy sector can ensure AI is leveraged to enhance energy security and sustainability.
Overall, countries are urged to pursue consistent grid expansion and standardize electricity infrastructure, to prevent continued regulatory uncertainty.
The post AI data centres pose growing threat to electricity systems worldwide, UNECE says appeared first on JURIST - News.
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While a data centre facility can be built and connected to the grid and the general public within two to five years, expanding transmission lines and other grid infrastructure can take more than ten years to be updated, due to lengthy planning, approval, and construction processes.
Data centre and AI consumption is expected to almost double by 2030, equaling about three percent of the global energy demand, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Additionally, worldwide investments in data centres and their infrastructure are estimated to roughly double by 2050, from around $800 billion per year in 2026 to $1.8 trillion per year in 2050. This has begun to raise concerns about the future reliability and resilience of global energy systems.
This is not the only concern surrounding AI and data centres. Concerns regarding the usage of AI are multifaceted, ranging from environmental to economic to civil rights. Researchers such as Dr. Shaolei Ren have argued that AI negatively impacts the water supply, stating that training a model like GPT-3 in Microsoft’s data centers could consume around 700,000 litres of clean freshwater.
Large data centre facilities can use millions of gallons of drinking water a day to cool hot servers. Moreover, many data centres are built in dry regions, which can threaten locals drinking water and worsens already severe droughts. Furthermore, environmental activist Erin Brockovich argues that data centres release harmful smog-forming pollutants like nitrogen oxides and fine soot.
The placement of data centres along with their environmental impacts have also led to arguments of environmental racism, resource depletion, and the unequal distribution of industrial burdens on marginalized and low-income communities. Economic concerns run along the same vein, with local residents worrying that the high cost of utility bills and environmental damage outweigh the local payoff of purported jobs and tax revenue. Additionally, a report from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) found that data centers generate constant, loud noise from cooling fans and heavy equipment, harming nearby residents’ quality of life.
The UN acknowledges that many of these issues are extremely hard to solve, yet the problem of grid expansion remains unresolved. The IEA has proposed three ideas to help ensure that AI deployment and development can benefit the energy sector, rather than impacting electricity systems: (1) Proactive management of data centre project pipelines and electricity sector investment can support adequate and reliable electricity for the sector without adversely affecting prices; (2) Approaches that promote electricity system flexibility can help accelerate grid connections and ensure electricity affordability; and (3) Removing barriers to AI adoption in the energy sector can ensure AI is leveraged to enhance energy security and sustainability.
Overall, countries are urged to pursue consistent grid expansion and standardize electricity infrastructure, to prevent continued regulatory uncertainty.
The post AI data centres pose growing threat to electricity systems worldwide, UNECE says appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.