Soaring demand for AI chips fuels power usage: Report

Rising demand for the semiconductor chips that energy synthetic intelligence is driving hovering electrical energy use, significantly in international locations that depend on fossil fuels for energy, environmental group Greenpeace warned Thursday.

International chip manufacturing is concentrated in East Asia, together with Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, whose energy methods are nonetheless closely depending on burning fossil fuels that produce climate-warming emissions.

Exploding demand for the extremely superior chips utilized in energy-hungry AI information facilities world wide has raised fears in regards to the know-how’s environmental impression.

AI chipmaking used practically 984 gigawatt hours (GWh) final 12 months, up greater than 350% from 2023, Greenpeace stated.

Emissions from that electricity generation rose greater than four-fold to 453,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide equal in 2024, from 99,200 within the earlier 12 months.

“Chip manufacturing is extremely energy intensive. A large foundry can consume up to 100 megawatt-hours of electricity per hour,” Greenpeace stated.

The group warned that international electrical energy demand for AI chipmaking was anticipated to achieve 37,238 GWh by 2030, including that was “more than the total current electricity consumption of Ireland.”

Tech firms have been spending billions of {dollars} in AI analysis and infrastructure, however “the adoption of strategies to achieve 100% renewable energy across supply chains remains limited,” Greenpeace stated.

Rising demand for chips and increasing manufacturing capability 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 stated.

Whereas chipmakers, together with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), have been transitioning to renewable power, the tempo was “slow,” Greenpeace stated.

TSMC instructed Bloomberg Information that the corporate was dedicated to low-carbon manufacturing and that its inner tally confirmed emissions per unit declined in 2024.

© 2025 AFP