Your demand for AI is set to cause massive emissions in chip manufacturing industry

The environmental non-governmental organization, Greenpeace, has warned that emissions from AI chip manufacturing are set to massively increase by 2030. In 2023, the energy consumption for AI chip making was 218 GWh globally, and in 2024, this jumped up to 984 GWh. Scarily, by 2030, Greenpeace thinks that this figure will hit 37,238 GWh - that’s more than Ireland consumes.

It warned that the expansion in energy needs was being used by Asian governments to “justify false climate solutions such as gas and nuclear.” The South Korean government has approved a 1.05 GW liquefied natural gas (LNG) project and a 3 GW LNG project to help SK hynix and Samsung with their energy needs. Industry in Taiwan is also pushing for LNG and nuclear energy sources.

To address the issue, Greenpeace is urging tech companies to expand their use of renewable energy with a focus first on the chip manufacturing emissions, as this is going to be a big issue soon. Commenting, Katrin Wu, Greenpeace East Asia Supply Chain Project Lead, said:

“While fabless hardware companies like Nvidia and AMD are reaping billions from the AI boom, they are neglecting the climate impact of their supply chains in East Asia. AI chipmaking is being leveraged to justify new fossil fuel capacity in Taiwan and South Korea – demand that could, and should, be met by renewable energy sources. Across East Asia, there are many opportunities for companies to invest directly in wind and solar energy, yet chipmakers have failed to do so on a meaningful scale. It is crucial for Nvidia, AMD, and their peers to fully recognize the environmental impact of their supply chains and work with manufacturers to increase renewable energy use.”

While Greenpeace wants chipmakers like Nvidia and AMD to achieve 100% renewable energy across their supply chains, it also wants AI companies to work with chipmakers to achieve this goal. It recommends that these companies build and invest “in renewable energy generation facilities and [sign] long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).”

Source: Greenpeace | Image via Depositphotos.com