{"id":55290,"date":"2025-09-26T20:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T15:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=55290"},"modified":"2025-09-27T15:27:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T09:57:43","slug":"energy-ai-interconnections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/26-09-2025\/energy-ai-interconnections","title":{"rendered":"Growing Interconnections Between Energy and AI Worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In a 2024 report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlighted the <strong>growing interconnections between energy and AI worldwide.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Global Data Centre Energy Outlook<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rising Demand: <\/strong>Data centre electricity demand projected to more than double by 2030 to 945 TWh.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>AI-optimised data centres demand to quadruple by 2030.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Global Share:<\/strong> Data centres currently consume 1\u20132% of total power, expected to rise to 3\u20134% by 2030.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Comparison: <\/strong>Steel industry consumes 7% of total power.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Water Stress:<\/strong> Rising freshwater use for cooling servers is a parallel concern.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>IEA Projection: <\/strong>Renewables and natural gas to dominate supply due to cost-competitiveness and availability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Data Centre Landscape<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Current &amp; Future Growth: <\/strong>The demand is projected to rise from 1.2 GW (2024) to 4.5 GW (2030) (McKinsey Report).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>AI-driven data centres alone will consume 40\u201350 TWh annually by 2030.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regional Distribution: <\/strong>Mumbai \u2013 41%, Chennai \u2013 23%, NCR \u2013 14% of total capacity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Energy Mix:<\/strong> India is the 3rd-largest energy consumer, dominated by coal, crude oil, and natural gas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How AI adoption world wide impacts the Environment?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>High Energy Demand: <\/strong>Training large AI models (like GPT, image generators) consumes massive electricity, often concentrated in data centres.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Global data centre demand could triple by 2030, with AI as the main driver. If powered by fossil fuels, this raises CO\u2082 emissions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Water and Resource Use: <\/strong>Data centres require huge water volumes for cooling \u2014 sometimes millions of litres per day.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>E-Waste and Hardware Turnover: <\/strong>Frequent upgrades of GPUs\/TPUs for AI accelerate electronic waste, adding pressure on waste management systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Positive Impacts of AI on Environment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Optimising Energy Systems: <\/strong>AI helps forecast solar and wind better, enabling higher renewable integration and reducing curtailment.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>AI-managed smart grids, batteries, and demand-response systems reduce energy wastage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Modelling &amp; Adaptation: <\/strong>Enhances climate predictions, extreme <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/29-08-2024\/indias-weather-forecasting-needs-an-upgrade\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/29-08-2024\/indias-weather-forecasting-needs-an-upgrade\">weather forecasting<\/a>, and precision agriculture to cut fertilizer\/water use.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>AI supports disaster risk management and climate-resilient infrastructure planning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Efficiency in Industries: <\/strong>AI-driven optimization reduces emissions in transport (fuel routing, logistics), buildings (smart HVAC), and manufacturing (process automation).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Policy Framework:<\/strong> Energy Conservation Building Code &amp; National Energy Efficiency Roadmap integrate AI in renewable energy, and sustainable design.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Smart Real Estate:<\/strong> AI-driven solutions such as smart lighting, predictive Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), automated building controls energy savings up to 25%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The rapid adoption of AI worldwide is set to transform both the energy sector and the environment.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AI-driven data centres are projected to multiply electricity and water demand\u2014raising concerns of higher CO\u2082 emissions, resource stress, and e-waste.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AI also offers powerful solutions by enabling energy efficiency, renewable integration, and climate adaptation.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The challenge ahead lies in ensuring that AI\u2019s energy-hungry growth is powered by clean, sustainable sources while leveraging its potential to build a greener, more resilient future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/will-ai-help-fix-india-energy-demand-or-will-its-own-needs-surge\/article70087511.ece#:~:text=In%20a%202024%20report%2C%20the,would%20be%20the%20principal%20driver.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">In a 2024 report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlighted the growing interconnections between energy and AI worldwide.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Global Data Centre Energy Outlook<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Rising Demand: Data centre electricity demand projected to more than double by 2030 to 945 TWh.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">AI-optimised data centres demand to quadruple by 2030.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Global Share: Data centres currently consume 1\u20132% of total power, expected to rise to 3\u20134% by 2030.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/26-09-2025\/energy-ai-interconnections\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":55315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/energy-ai-interconnections.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55290"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55355,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55290\/revisions\/55355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}