Newsletter 
Summary: Greenpeace East Asia reports that global emissions from the AI chip manufacturing process have increased by more than 350% between 2023 and 2024. Fossil fuel-powered electricity grids located in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan are the largest contributors to the increased emissions. These regions house most of the AI chip-making production facilities in the world.
Artificial intelligence-powered tools have become a part of our everyday lives. Most of us use at least one of these products knowingly or unknowingly on our smart devices every day. This has increased the demand for semiconductor chips that power AI tools. The never-ending demand for AI chips has triggered a sharp increase in global electricity consumption, apart from raising carbon emissions across the world.
AI chip manufacturing fuels surge in global emissions
A recent study by Greenpeace suggests that global emissions from electricity consumption for AI chip production have soared dramatically. The source claims that the emissions have increased by more than 350% globally between 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, the electricity consumption for AI chip manufacturing has more than tripled in 2024, amounting to approximately 984 gigawatt hours (GWh).
To be precise, these emissions have hit 453,600 metric tons. The report predicts that by 2030, worldwide electricity demand for AI chip production will soar by as much as 170-fold compared to 2023 levels. It will exceed the current electricity consumption of some small countries like Ireland.
The report highlights that many big chipmakers like NVIDIA rely on companies like TSMC and SK Hynix for the components of GPUs and other chips. Major manufacturing of these components happens in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. These countries rely on power grids primarily fueled by fossil fuels. If this dependence on fossil fuels persists, their production will only increase the carbon footprint.
AI companies should consider climate impact
The rapid expansion of AI tools is bringing with it a significant environmental cost. It poses a serious threat to global decarbonization goals. Greenpeace has urged major tech companies like NVIDIA, Microsoft, Meta, and Google to “support their suppliers to increase renewable energy procurement and should target 100% renewable energy across their supply chains by 2030.”
While some chipmakers, including TSMC, have been transitioning to renewable energy, the pace was slow, the Greenpeace report added. It’s worth adding that Google recently announced it is developing AI tools to help create a more efficient electricity system. We hope that more companies will soon join these brands and consider the climate impact of their supply chains.