Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly expanding, driving a significant increase in electricity consumption, particularly in countries with a high concentration of data centers like the US and Ireland. While AI technology offers numerous benefits, its reliance on electricity generated from fossil fuels raises concerns about its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.
Anna Furberg, a Digital Futures Industrial Innovation Postdoc at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, recently addressed these concerns in several radio interviews. As a researcher in the project “Environmental Life Cycle Impacts of Digital Technologies and their use in Society (ELID),” Anna and postdoc Shoaib Azizi, under the supervision of Professor Göran Finnveden, investigate the environmental effects of digitalization using life cycle assessment methods. Her insights shed light on how AI is consuming substantial energy resources, with data center electricity usage in the US doubling between 2017 and 2023.
“AI has the potential to support sustainability goals, but we must carefully evaluate its energy consumption and emissions to ensure it doesn’t exacerbate climate change,” says Anna Furberg.
The ELID project at KTH aims to provide a scientific foundation for understanding the direct and indirect environmental impacts of digital technologies. By analyzing case studies and applying life cycle assessment, Anna and her colleagues seek to inform decision-making for sustainable digitalization.
You can listen to Anna’s perspectives in her recent radio interviews:
- English interview:
- Swedish interviews:
For further information on the project visit “Environmental Life Cycle Impacts of Digital Technologies and their use in Society (ELID).
