AI Chip Production Drives Surge in Global Emissions, Raising Environmental Concerns

AI Chipmaking Emissions Surged Fourfold in 2024, Greenpeace Says

Emissions generated from the production of semiconductors that underpin AI services grew more than fourfold in 2024, according to a Greenpeace analysis of company and publicly available data. Nvidia Corp. and Microsoft Corp. rely on chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., SK Hynix Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Micron Technology Inc. for the graphic processing units and memory that support artificial intelligence. Much of their manufacturing occurs in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, where power grids remain deeply reliant on fossil fuels.

Global emissions due to AI-related chipmaking grew more than four times in 2024

A pair of studies analyzing the effects of AI on our planet have been released and the news is fairly grim. Greenpeace generated from the production of the semiconductors used in AI chips and found that there was a fourfold increase in 2024. This analysis was completed using publicly available data. Many of the big chipmakers like NVIDIA rely on companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and SK Hynix Inc. for the components of GPUs and memory units. Most of this manufacturing happens in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, where power grids are primarily reliant on fossil fuels. This accounts for some of the increase in global emissions. The organization also says that global electricity requirements for AI could experience a 170-fold increase by 2030. Greenpeace's estimates have led some to worry that the AI race could derail global decarbonization goals, . The nonprofit recommends that governments in eastern Asia transition to renewable power for chip manufacturing, but the opposite seems to be happening. South Korea to of gas-fired power generation. Taiwan has used the increased power demand related to AI as an excuse to expand liquid natural gas projects and grid infrastructure. Another study by The International Energy Agency (IEA) . The analysis suggested that power consumption by AI-adjacent data centers could account for half of the growth in electricity demand by 2030. As a matter of fact, the US economy could be on track to consume more electricity for processing data than for manufacturing all energy-intensive goods combined. This includes aluminum, steel, cement and chemicals. Electricity demand from global data centers could more than double by 2030 to around 945 terawatt-hours (TWh). That's more than the . It's a whopping 30 times more than the . Proponents of AI say that the massive energy needs will eventually abate as the technology leads to scientific discoveries that accelerate innovation in fields like and . However, that's a big fat maybe.

Soaring demand for AI chips fuels power usage: Report

Growing demand for the semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence is driving soaring electricity use, particularly in countries that rely on fossil fuels for power, environmental group Greenpeace warned Thursday. Global chip manufacturing is concentrated in East Asia, including Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, whose power systems are still heavily dependent on burning fossil fuels that produce climate-warming emissions. Exploding demand for the highly advanced chips used in energy-hungry AI data centers around the world has raised fears about the technology's environmental impact. AI chipmaking used nearly 984 gigawatt hours (GWh) last year, up more than 350% from 2023, Greenpeace said. Emissions from that electricity generation rose more than four-fold to 453,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024, from 99,200 in the previous year. "Chip manufacturing is extremely energy intensive. A large foundry can consume up to 100 megawatt-hours of electricity per hour," Greenpeace said. The group warned that global electricity demand for AI chipmaking was expected to reach 37,238 GWh by 2030, adding that was "more than the total current electricity consumption of Ireland." Tech companies were spending billions of dollars in AI research and infrastructure, but "the adoption of strategies to achieve 100% renewable energy across supply chains remains limited," Greenpeace said. Increasing demand for chips and expanding manufacturing capacity would "inevitably contribute to a growing carbon footprint," it warned. "Tech companies such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, and Google must support their suppliers to increase renewable energy procurement and should target 100% renewable energy across their supply chains by 2030," the report said. While chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), have been transitioning to renewable energy, the pace was "slow," Greenpeace said. TSMC told Bloomberg News that the company was committed to low-carbon manufacturing and that its internal tally showed emissions per unit declined in 2024.

Soaring demand for AI chips fuels power usage: report - VnExpress International

Growing demand for the semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence is driving soaring electricity use, particularly in economies that rely on fossil fuels for power, environmental group Greenpeace warned Thursday. Global chip manufacturing is concentrated in East Asia, including Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, whose power systems are still heavily dependent on burning fossil fuels that produce climate-warming emissions. Exploding demand for the highly advanced chips used in energy-hungry AI data centres around the world has raised fears about the technology's environmental impact. AI chipmaking used nearly 984 gigawatt hours (GWh) last year, up more than 350 percent from 2023, Greenpeace said. Emissions from that electricity generation rose more than fourfold to 453,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024, from 99,200 in the previous year. "Chip manufacturing is extremely energy-intensive. A large foundry can consume up to 100 megawatt-hours of electricity per hour," Greenpeace said. The group warned that global electricity demand for AI chipmaking was expected to reach 37,238 GWh by 2030, adding that was "more than the total current electricity consumption of Ireland". Tech companies were spending billions of dollars in AI research and infrastructure, but "the adoption of strategies to achieve 100 percent renewable energy across supply chains remains limited", Greenpeace said. Increasing demand for chips and expanding manufacturing capacity would "inevitably contribute to a growing carbon footprint", it warned. "Tech companies such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, and Google must support their suppliers to increase renewable energy procurement and should target 100 percent renewable energy across their supply chains by 2030," the report said. While chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), have been transitioning to renewable energy, the pace was "slow", Greenpeace said. TSMC told Bloomberg News that the company was committed to low-carbon manufacturing and that its internal tally showed emissions per unit declined in 2024.