(VitalNews.org) – Big tech has made some pretty big claims about greenhouse gas emissions over the past few years. With the rise in popularity of artificial intelligence this creates even larger demands for data centers in the technology industry.
According to a Guardian analysis, the real amount of emissions from “in house” or company owned data centers of companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Meta are likely about six hundred percent more than originally reported.
Of the five largest technology companies Amazon is the biggest emitter by a lot, and the second largest emitter is Apple. Amazon has likely been kept out of the calculation because of its different business model, making it difficult to identify the emissions specific to the data center.
Energy demands for data centers are continuing to grow which has concerned many people about how high-carbon emissions might rise in response. The International Energy Agency has stated that data centers already account for one to one and a half percent of global electricity consumption, but this was calculated prior to the AI boom.
Artificial intelligence is much more energy-intensive, and the amount of energy that will be needed to power all of the different AI avenues is expected to be high. The data center power demand is expected to grow by one hundred and sixty percent by the end of the decade.
All five of these large tech companies have claimed carbon neutrality, and some companies have stated that their goals have already been met.
“Amazon – despite all the PR and propaganda that you’re seeing about their solar farms, about their electric vans – is expanding its fossil fuel use, whether it’s in data centers or whether it’s in diesel trucks,” said a representative from Amazon Employees for Climate Justice.
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