The emissions from data centers of tech giants like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple could be significantly higher than officially reported, due to the growth in energy demand caused by Artificial Intelligence (AI), increased data usage, and cloud storage. According to a study by The Guardian, actual emissions could be up to 7.62 times higher, which would distance these companies from their carbon neutrality goals.
"It is a fact that the adoption of AI tools, applications, and services in Mexico and worldwide is increasing energy demand," said Marco Antonio Ortega, Solutions Manager at Stratosphere. In Mexico, where a 230 percent growth in electricity demand is expected over the next five years, it is emerging as a significant data center hub.
The analysis conducted between 2020 and 2022 showed that emissions based on the location of data centers significantly exceeded the officially reported figures, which, according to The Guardian, may have been adjusted to obtain renewable energy certificates. Companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple obtain millions of these certificates annually to declare emission reductions.
The study noted that the acquisition of renewable energy anywhere in the world, without considering where it is consumed, has created discrepancies between actual and reported emissions. Amazon, the largest emitter among e-commerce tech companies, was not included in the analysis due to the complexity of isolating its emissions in data centers.
Mexico, aiming to position itself as a significant data center hub in North America, will see the arrival of at least 73 new data centers in the next five years, which will require CFE to increase its energy generation and distribution capacity. These data centers are estimated to demand 1,492 MegaWatts per hour, a figure much higher than the current demand in the country.
José Otero, Vice President of 5G Americas for LA and the Caribbean, explained that the energy demand from AI must come from clean sources to prevent an increase in emissions. Furthermore, many companies are ignoring the environmental impacts of using AI tools, as revealed by a report from Capgemini Research Institute.
The study highlights that the use of Generative AI is having a negative environmental impact, as many organizations are not adequately tracking the footprint they generate. José Otero warned that public policies regulating this situation need to be implemented soon; otherwise, in a few years, we could face an even greater emissions problem.
