Ai could be used to cut more emissions than you create
The energy hungry and associated data centers could make the grid cleaner, and eventually short more emissions that cause the climate change than they produce
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Climatewire | Artificial intelligence could reduce global climate pollution by up to 5.4 billion metric tons per year during the next decade if it is used in a way that improves transportation, energy and food production.
These reductions would even exceed the expected increase in global energy consumption and emissions that would be created when executing energy hungry centers associated with AI, according to an investigation carried out by the Grantham Research Institute that was published in the magazine NPJ climate action.
“The key will be to channel practical applications to the key impact areas to accelerate the market adoption rate and the efficiency of low carbon solutions,” the study said, noting that governments will have a vital role to play.
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“Governments must regulate AI to minimize their environmental footprint,” said the study, pointing out the need for energy efficiency AI models and the use of renewable energy to boost data centers.
It also says that governments should invest in infrastructure and education of AI in developing countries, “ensure that the benefits of AI are shared equally.”
The use of AI has increased in recent years and President Donald Trump has made his expansion a priority while seeking to overcome China in advanced technologies. But its voracious use of energy has generated concerns about its climate impact, particularly because Trump and other officials argue that winning the AI race is a reason to expand fossil fuels.
The International Energy Agency Projects that by 2030 Data centers will consume twice as much electricity as today. The growing energy demands are already Challenging the US networkand oil companies They are using AI To find new areas to pierce. Bloombegnef He said fossil fuels It will provide most of the new power for data centers during the next decade, preventing efforts to reduce carbon pollution.
There are ways to mitigate the damage, said Grantham’s study.
It describes five areas where AI can take advantage to reduce emissions, including consumer behavior, energy management and technology innovation.
For example, AI can help integrate renewable energies in the network better forecasting supply and demand fluctuations and helping the network to distribute energy with greater precision, reducing concerns about intermittency. That can increase the absorption of solar energy and wind and reduce the use of pollutant support energy sources, according to the report.
“The energy networks are in the heart of the entire economy, so improving its efficiency reduces emissions in multiple sectors,” Roberta Pierfederici, a member of the Grantham Research Institute policy and author of the study, in an email, said in an email.
IA can also identify new types of proteins to replace meat and dairy in human diets, industries that are heavy emitters. And can improve transport by reducing the cost of electric vehicles through battery improvements or encouraging people to change to shared transport.
These combined shares could reduce emissions from 3.2 billion to 5.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually in 2035 compared to its current trajectory, according to the study. That is more than the entire European Union. Compared, United States launched 6.2 billion metric tons of climate pollution in 2023.
These cuts are not in line with what is necessary to prevent global temperatures from increasing more than 1.5 degrees Celsius from the beginning of the industrial era. But they could control the heating rather than compensate for released emissions using AI. The study estimated that energy emissions linked to data centers and AI will reach 0.4 billion to 1.6 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent in the next decade.
The study has its limitations, given the speed with which the AI field is changing. The authors recognized that they could have underestimated the potential of the AI to reduce emissions, because they only observed how AI is currently applied to three sectors. On the other hand, the study did not consider how AI’s energy efficiency gains could lead to greater consumption in other places that could increase emissions.
Pierfederici said that while the increase in emissions of data centers is a valid concern, he believes that the study presents a strong argument to use AI to help address increasing temperatures.
“That said, governments must play an active role in the guide of how AI is applied and governed, to ensure that disadvantages are handled effectively and the potential of AI for climate action is carried out,” he added.
Reprint of E&E news With permission from politician, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.
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