A recently released United Nations report said that the indirect carbon emissions from the operations of four major technology corporations focusing on developing artificial intelligence (AI) increased by an average of 150% between 2020 and 2023. The reason comes from the large energy demand of data centers.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations' digital agency, said the use of AI by Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta has increased their global indirect emissions due to the huge amount of electricity required for data centres.
The report said indirect emissions include those from electricity, steam, heating and cooling systems used by businesses. Of the four companies, Amazon saw the highest increase in emissions, up 182% by 2023 compared to three years earlier. Microsoft saw a 155% increase, Meta a 145% increase and Alphabet a 138% increase.
The ITU tracked the greenhouse gas emissions of the top 200 tech companies from 2020 to 2023. Meta said it is working to reduce emissions, energy and water use in its data centers. Amazon said it is committed to operating more sustainably by investing in carbon-neutral energy projects, including nuclear and renewables.
The rapid development of AI is driving a sharp increase in global electricity demand, with data center electricity consumption growing four times faster than overall electricity consumption, the ITU said.
The report also highlighted that while more and more tech companies have set emissions reduction targets, these targets have yet to translate into actual emissions reductions./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/luong-khi-thai-gian-tiep-tu-cac-ong-lon-cong-nghe-tang-150-chi-trong-3-nam-post1043252.vnp
Comment (0)