Did you know Greenpeace Study Reveals an Increase in Global Emissions Because of Production of AI Chips

 

According to a new study by Greenpeace that analyzed the effects of AI on our planet, it was found that there was a 4× increase in emissions because of AI chips in 2024, which are produced during the making of semiconductors for AI chips. Most of these chips are made by companies like SK Hynix and TSMC which supply these chips to NVIDIA and others. These chips are made in countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan where most of the electricity depends on fossil fuels and hence, the rise in global emissions. Greenpeace also reported that the global electricity demand for AI is going to grow 170 times by 20230 and this could result in worse climate pressures.

Bloomberg reports that these estimates by Greenpeace have raised concerns about carbon emissions. It is suggested by Greenpeace that countries in Southeast Asia should switch to renewable energy sources for chip production. But the opposite is happening because South Korea is planning to build power plants that use natural gas and Taiwan is also working to expand liquid natural gas to upgrade its power grid for AI demands.  

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has also done a study which suggests that data centers in the US are going to use more than half of the country’s electricity demand growth by 2030. It is also expected that the US will end up using more electricity for data processing than for making major energy-heavy products like steel, aluminium, chemicals and cement. Electricity demand for data centers will reach 945 terawatt-hours by 2030 which is equivalent to Japan’s energy use right now.