As AI explosion threatens progress on climate change, these researchers are seeking solutions

Conflicting demands

Much of the energy demand of AI data centers comes from training AI models, particularly the large ones that can write essays or mimic human conversations like ChatGPT, and cooling computer servers.

While asking ChatGPT a question can consume almost 10 times the amount of electricity as a simple Google search, that pales in comparison to the energy needed to train these models in the first place, according to the IEA.

Today, a large-scale AI data center with a maximum power demand of 100 megawatts consumes roughly the same energy as 100,000 homes for a year, said Hodge.

“We want to lower emissions and cost, but also be competitive in AI research and development,” Baker said. “These are competing objectives, and it’s hard to say which one should dominate the other.”

Tech companies, who have to invest in costly specialized computer chips to train AI, often run these centers round-the-clock to maximize their return on investment. Because the wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine, they can’t rely solely on wind and solar power.

So some are turning to alternative sources. For example, Microsoft announced that it will use natural gas to power one of its data centers. Amazon recently purchased a data center next to a nuclear power plant.

But building natural gas and nuclear power plants is expensive and can take years. To meet the imminent demand, data center and grid operators are increasingly tempted to rely on fossil fuels, including coal, the most carbon-intensive option, notes Hodge.

In fact, rising demand has already delayed coal plant retirements across the country. In 2024, the U.S. retired only 4 gigawatts of coal-fired power generation capacity, a steep decline from the nearly 10 gigawatts retired annually over the past decade, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“We’re shooting after a moving target here with decarbonization,” Hodge said. “A couple years ago, we were talking about how to fulfill the additional demand from electric vehicles with renewables, and now we have this AI boom that immediately dwarfs EV power needs.  We’re not moving fast enough toward our climate goal, because the goalposts keep shifting.”