Energy and water-hungry AI is bad for the environment

AI giants, including OpenAI, are accused of hiding their environmental footprint.

The growth of artificial intelligence is leading to increased energy consumption; data centres’ power consumption is expected to double by 2030.  And by 2027, AI could consume up to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water per year, twice the annual consumption of Switzerland.

It has been estimated that generative AI could produce 2.5 million tonnes of electronic waste by 2030.

Related:

• Data centre projects worth £14bn announced with new UK government AI plan, Data Centre Dynamics, 13 January 2025
• Scotland will be at the heart of UK Government’s AI revolution, Herald Scotland, 17 July 2025

The following is paraphrased from an interview Swiss Info conducted with Sasha Luccioni, a researcher specialising in the ecological footprint of AI, ahead of the AI for Good Summit held from 7 to 11 July in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Summit is the UN’s leading event on AI.  It was organised by the International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”) in partnership with over 40 other UN agencies and co-convened with the Government of Switzerland.

Related: Organisations that make up the UN World Government System

At the Summit, Luccioni spoke about the ecological footprint of AI and the need for greater awareness and transparency about the environmental costs of this technology.  At the time of writing, her speech had not been uploaded onto the Summit’s YouTube channel.

Unfortunately, Luccioni supports the manufactured climate change crisis narrative.  Titled ‘AI and climate change: Balancing innovation and sustainability’, the short description of her talk states that she “will discuss how to harness AI’s immense potential for helping fight the climate crisis while keeping its environmental impacts in mind.”  The reality is, regardless of personal beliefs, if you want to speak at UN-organised events, you will have to conform to the UN-established agenda; it is the UN that frames the discussion.

In the following, we have chosen to omit Luccioni’s comments promoting the nefarious climate change agenda.  You can read Swiss Info’s write-up of the interview with Luccioni HERE.

AI Giants Accused of Hiding Environmental Footprint

The recent boom in artificial intelligence (AI) has significant environmental costs that are largely hidden, with 84% of requests to conversational robots in May 2025 being processed by models whose environmental footprint remains opaque, including OpenAI, according to a study by researcher Sasha Luccioni.

Luccioni, a computer scientist and climate manager at Hugging Face, warns that the ecological and ethical abuses of AI technology are evolving faster than our ability to grasp its consequences, and with increasing opacity, highlighting the disconnect between the interfaces we use and the hardware reality of the servers that run them.

The increasing use of AI in various applications, such as voice assistants, smart fridges and personalised advertising, is fuelling a rebound effect known as the Jevons paradox, where even though AI is becoming more efficient, its energy consumption is increasing because it’s now used everywhere.

Generative AI, which is capable of generating text, images or music from machine learning models like ChatGPT, consumes 20 to 30 times more energy than traditional AI to answer a factual question, according to a study conducted by Luccioni in 2024.

And in just four months, the number of weekly users of ChatGPT doubled to 800 million.

The Growing Energy Consumption of AI

The power consumption of data centres, which are essential to the operation of AI and “the cloud,” grew by 12% a year between 2017 and 2023, four times faster than global electricity demand, according to a recent report by ITU.

The International Energy Agency predicts that the energy consumption of AI could double by 2030 to reach 945 TWh, surpassing the energy consumption of Japan and Switzerland.  This unbridled growth in energy requirements is outstripping the deployment capacity of “renewable” energies, such as wind and solar, and is being largely powered by “non-renewable” energy sources, such as gas and coal, Luccioni warned.

According to Luccioni, the rapid development of AI is resulting in the revival of gas and coal-fired power stations to supply data centres. In Ireland, the electricity network is reaching its limits because of AI’s expansion.  In the United States, Elon Musk’s centre in Memphis is causing controversy and President Donald Trump signed decrees in April aimed at reviving coal mining, citing the rise of AI.

Related:

• AI data centres will consume more than a third of Ireland’s electricity supply by 2026
• 5G ushers in aggressive growth in energy consumption
• Google signs deal for nuclear power to supply the electricity needed for its AI operations
• While we’re supplied unreliable “renewable” energy, reliable “green” nuclear energy will be supplied for data centres and AI

Ecological Footprint of AI

The ecological footprint of AI extends beyond energy consumption.  The growth of generative AI models also requires large quantities of critical metals and water, leading to the emergence of new mines and the generation of significant amounts of electronic waste, as so few electronic components are recycled.

A study published last year estimated that generative AI could produce 2.5 million tonnes of electronic waste by 2030, equivalent to 13.3 billion discarded smartphones.

In a report last year, the OECD estimated that AI could consume up to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water per year by 2027, twice the annual consumption of Switzerland.

Related:

• As Data Centres Proliferate Across Illinois, Communities Grapple with How to Supply the Necessary Water, Inside Climate News, 16 June 2025
• China, Russia, USA and EU cause devastation in Africa while scrambling for natural resources to feed the climate change cult
• From one colonial master to another; China’s ongoing takeover of Africa and its natural resources
• Solar and Wind Renewable Energy Projects are Environmentally Destructive
• Wind turbines are a threat to the environment, wildlife and human health
• Electric vehicles collect huge amounts of data including psychological, genetic and health information
• Electric vehicles are financing slave labour operations and destruction of the environment
• The environmental devastation and loss of life in Indonesia caused by China’s EV industry

Lack of Transparency and Accountability

The lack of transparency from AI giants, such as their refusal to disclose energy consumption data, makes it difficult to estimate the actual environmental impact of AI.  A study published in June, for which Luccioni was a co-author, noted that 84% of requests addressed to conversational robots were processed by models whose environmental footprint remains completely opaque.

The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, has claimed that each ChatGPT request consumes around 0.34 watt-hours of energy.  However, Luccioni argues that these figures are not verifiable and do not take into account the overall energy consumption of AI, which could be colossal when considering the billions of daily requests and the generation of images.

The ITU reports that emissions linked to the activities of AI giants have increased by an average of 150% since 2020, emphasising the need for more sustainable AI practices and greater transparency from the industry to mitigate the environmental consequences of AI development.

Luccioni argues that breaking up the monopolies of big tech companies is necessary to encourage transparency and environmental responsibility.

On an individual level, Luccioni warned against over-reliance on generative AI, citing an MIT study that showed ChatGPT could reduce brain activity in areas linked to attention, planning, memory and critical thinking.  She also warned that AI produces false information, known as “hallucinations.”

Luccioni concluded her interview saying that it is essential to continue demanding answers about the reliability, rigour and environmental footprint of AI, just like any other technology that enters our lives, and to highlight the importance of transparency and accountability in the development and use of AI.

You can read the interview on Swiss Info HERE.

Source:  https://expose-news.com/2025/07/21/energy-and-water-hungry-ai-is-bad-for-the-environment/

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