Transcript:
Online chatbots, shopping apps, and social media all rely more and more on AI.
And as demand for AI grows, so does the demand for electricity at energy-intensive data centers.
Muller: “We will need significant new generation capacity in the U.S. to power what we expect to come online in the next five to 10 years.”
Nick Muller of Carnegie Mellon University warns that meeting that demand could threaten the climate and public health.
He says some data centers will likely be powered by new natural gas plants or even retired coal plants brought back online.
Burning fossil fuels emits pollutants that are dangerous to breathe, as well as climate-warming CO2.
So to limit the harm, Muller suggests investing in technology to capture carbon and air pollution at the smokestack.
But critics say this approach keeps the U.S. dependent on fossil fuels and that companies should power data centers with clean energy instead.
Muller: “And so that puts an emphasis on AI data center development in places where you have a lot of wind, where you have a lot of solar.”
… like West Texas and the Great Plains.
So where companies build data centers matters for the climate and public health.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
