Research suggest data centers will emit 2.5 billion tons of greenhouse gas by 2030

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/20289663

A report from Morgan Stanley suggests the datacenter industry is on track to emit 2.5 billion tons by 2030, which is three times higher than the predictions if generative AI had not come into play.

The extra demand from GenAI will reportedly lead to a rise in emissions from 200 million tons this year to 600 million tons by 2030, thanks largely to the construction of more data centers to keep up with the demand for cloud services.

  • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2010·
    4 days ago

    Look, i’m not saying that this isn’t a problem. My only question is, is this one of those “global warming is because people don’t recycle their soda bottles” things? In other words, How concerned should I be about this vs, taking attention away from the energy, beef, and transportation industry?

      • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.eeEnglish
        95·
        3 days ago

        So you’re saying that we should be concerned with datacenters more than things like factory farming and oil & gas?

        I don’t follow. I need a lot more evidence of harm before I become “very concerned” about datacenters specifically.

    • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
      103·
      4 days ago

      I don’t think this is something to focus on. Tech being 40% of all emissions in the US is suspicious, given that in 2021, all industry was 30.1%, and all transportation was 28.5%. And the total emissions in the US was 6.3 billion tons. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=108623

      I don’t have more recent data (if it’s in the article, I didn’t see it at a skim) but I feel like oil, gas, and agriculture are the bigger long-term targets.

        • rhys@lemmy.rhys.wtfEnglish
          6·
          4 days ago

          That El Reg links breaks this report much better than some other reporting. It projects a tripling of carbon emissions from bit barns by 2030, with 40% of that increase being due to construction and materials fabrication and 60% from their operation.

    • Blaster M@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      2 days ago

      It’s a percent against the world’s emissions. Be concerned less with this. AI is the current hate train whipping boy, and takes the pressure of public focus off the biggest polluters.