ByJohn Koetsier,
Senior Contributor.
Everyone is worried about AI’s growing impact on the environment. That’s warranted, but the reality is that watching Netflix for an hour creates 500 times more CO₂ than sending two text prompts to Gemini or ChatGPT.
The International Energy Agency says that data centers, AI and crypto together used about 460 terawatt hours of electricity in 2022, and that is exploding to over 1,000 TWh by 2026. And the U.S. Department of Energy says data centers consumed about 4.4% of all U.S. electricity in 2023 and this should hit 6.7 to 12% by 2028. So AI and data centers are sucking up more and more of our electricity, even to the point of big tech companies exploring the use of nuclear reactors to feed our digital bellies.
But blaming AI is way too easy, says a new report by TRG Datacenters. Many of the other digital-centric activities we love are potentially much worse.
