Tech giants' indirect emissions rose 150% in three years as AI expands

Indirect carbon emissions from the operations of four of the leading AI-focused tech companies rose on average by 150 per cent from 2020-2023, due to the demands of power-hungry data centres, a United Nations report said on Thursday.

The use of artificial intelligence by Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta drove up their global indirect emissions because of the vast amounts of energy required to power data centres, the report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN agency for digital technologies, said.

Indirect emissions include those generated by purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling consumed by a company.

Amazon's operational carbon emissions grew the most at 182 per cent in 2023 compared to three years before, followed by Microsoft at 155 per cent, Meta at 145 per cent and Alphabet at 138 per cent, according to the report.

The ITU tracked the greenhouse gas emissions of 200 leading digital companies between 2020 and 2023.

Meta, which owns Facebook and WhatsApp, pointed Reuters to its sustainability report that said it is working to reduce emissions, energy and water used to power its data centres.

Amazon said it is committed to powering its operations more sustainably by investing in new carbon-free energy projects, including nuclear and renewable energy.

Microsoft highlighted its sustainability report, which says it had doubled its rate of power savings last year and is transitioning towards chip-level liquid cooling designs, instead of traditional cooling systems, to reduce energy at its data centres.

The other companies did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

As investment in AI increases, carbon emissions from the top-emitting AI systems are predicted to reach up to 102.6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, the report stated.

The data centres that are needed for AI development could also put pressure on existing energy infrastructure.

"The rapid growth of artificial intelligence is driving a sharp rise in global electricity demand, with electricity use by data centres increasing four times faster than the overall rise in electricity consumption," the report found.

It also highlighted that although a growing number of digital companies had set emissions targets, those ambitions had not yet fully translated into actual reductions of emissions.