By The Wall Street Journal
Published on November 09, 2023
The immense amount of energy needed to power generative artificial intelligence models, like the one behind ChatGPT, is creating a new market for data centers that run on alternative energy sources.
Supply of electricity, which currently powers the vast majority of data centers, is already strained from existing demands on the country’s electric grids. AI could consume up to 3.5% of the world’s electricity by 2030, according to an estimate from IT research and consulting firm
Gartner
Driven by energy demands and sustainability goals, Amazon.com, Microsoft and Google were among the first to explore an array of nontraditional energy sources, including wind and solar, to power their data centers. Now those companies and some newer players are looking at an even wider range of sources, including geothermal, nuclear and flared gas, a byproduct of oil production.