Technology and the environment
A force for good?
Technology is a powerful tool in addressing many environmental challenges, allowing more efficient use of resources, supporting the growth of renewable energy, and allowing monitoring of environmental impacts – from water usage, to air quality. However, there are growing concerns regarding the impact of technological progress on the environment, particularly as the energy requirements of artificial intelligence (AI) become clearer. Can these risks be mitigated to bring technology’s environmental impact back into balance?
Technology is already playing a vital role in addressing the climate crisis. It is needed to harness energy from renewable sources, and it can help with carbon capture solutions, drawing in harmful emissions before they enter the atmosphere. It is crucial for environmental monitoring. This might include air or water quality checks, better systems for waste or water management, or smart systems for energy or resource efficiency. Across the world an Internet of Things is busy monitoring emissions, pollutants, soil quality, or water levels, and providing an early warning system for environmental problems.
Technology can spot patterns in data, which allows companies, governments or individuals to make better environmental choices. The UN Environmental Programme, for example, uses AI to detect when oil and gas installations emit methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas that drives climate change. This allows it to alert the companies involved, who can then take action.
There are also less obvious uses for technology. There has been considerable innovation in the use of satellite and drone technology to detect illegal logging and hunting in protected areas of tropical forests. These forests, which act as ‘carbon sinks’ to capture harmful emissions, declined by 6.3m hectares every year between 2010 and 2020. Government agencies are now using satellite data to monitor activity in tropical regions. It is particularly effective in regions with extensive cloud cover, satellites can penetrate through to identify changes in the structure of the forest.
Once satellite data has identified a deforestation incident, it can be tackled by ground patrols. Those ground patrols will often make use of drones to confirm the nature of the problem and tackle it quickly. In a pilot scheme in Indonesia, deforestation decreased by up to 80%.
Some sectors have recognised the power of technology to help reduce emissions. Agriculture, for example, has shown itself to be ripe for AI adoption. From weather patterns to crop growth, there are millions of data points to collect and monitor. Precision fertiliser or pesticides can save farmers huge amounts of money, and help minimise environmental impacts. Small adjustments can have a significant impact on yields. AI can provide farmers with real-time insights to monitor machinery and manage crops.
Groups such as John Deere have been pioneers in this area. Its virtual operations centre allows farmers to plan planting and harvesting, fertiliser application and programme autonomous tasks. It is particularly useful for large farms, where monitoring across significant areas is intensive.
The emissions-heavy mining sector is another example of a sector where companies are embracing technology to change how the sector operates. The International Institute for Sustainable Development says: “New technologies reshaping the sector include autonomous vehicles, remote operating centres, automated drilling and tunnel-boring systems, machine learning and more. They are making operations more productive. This can be seen in the use of robotics operating 24 hours a day, real-time monitoring of minerals and metals through mines and processing plants, and using simulations at the mine design stage to test different solutions before implementation.”
Technology is also making mining equipment more effective. The use of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources on mining sites has resulted in decreased carbon emissions and energy usage. Equally, real-time monitoring of equipment helps extend its lifespan, allows mines to be run more efficiently. Mining companies now talk of a “brown to green” transition, enabled by technology.
However, there is a flipside to the environmental good news surrounding technology. Technology is resource-intensive, and particularly artificial intelligence. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that a request made through ChatGPT consumes 10 times the electricity of a Google Search. As these models proliferate, they require more and more energy to support them.
AI is leading to an explosion of data centres. These are where data is stored and analysed to provide AI insights. The number of data centres has surged to 8 million from 500,000 in 2012. The IEA forecasts that electricity consumption from data centres in the European Union in 2026 will be 30% higher than 2023 levels, as new data facilities are commissioned. Certain technology-rich countries are in the spotlight: Ireland and Denmark alone are expected to make up 20% of the increase in data centre electricity demand by 2026.
The United Nations has issued warnings about the environmental impact of these data centres. It says: “The proliferating data centres that house AI servers produce electronic waste. They are large consumers of water, which is becoming scarce in many places. They rely on critical minerals and rare elements, which are often mined unsustainably. And they use massive amounts of electricity, spurring the emission of planet-warming greenhouse gases.”
Globally, AI-related infrastructure may soon consume six times more water than Denmark. Water scarcity is becoming a problem across the globe, with a quarter of the world’s population already lacking access to clean water and sanitation. The growth of AI risks exacerbating these shortages, particularly in certain areas.
It is a significant problem. However, few are inclined to wind the clock back on technological progress. Some of the world’s biggest thinkers are looking at innovative ways to solve the problem. This may include looking at options to make AI algorithms more efficient, and reduce their demand for energy, while recycling water and reusing components where feasible.
Hardware designers suggest that chips could be re-engineered to make them more energy efficient. This would not only help data centres run more efficiently, but would also help AI run on smaller, personal devices without using up battery life. This is already happening to some extent, Nvidia reports that it has improved the performance-per-watt of its GPUs 4,000x over the past ten years.
Data centres are starting to use existing sources of renewable power, such as energy and wind. In 2023, S&P reported that US wind and solar capacity contracted to data centre providers and customers had jumped over 50% and represented around two-thirds of the total US corporate renewables market. However, technology leaders are also striving to find new and more efficient sources of energy.
Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has made a high profile investment in nuclear power, believing that it may hold the key to the energy limitations for technology. He has invested up to $1 billion into a nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Construction is expected to finish in 2030 and cost around $4bn in total. The new facility has been designed by TerraPower, a company founded by Gates in 2006 with the mission “to solve the world’s toughest problems in energy, climate and human health through innovative nuclear technology”. The new facility will be smaller than traditional nuclear power plants. It is also designed to be safer, using sodium instead of water to cool the reactor’s core. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has also been a vocal advocate for investments in nuclear power.
Global governments also have a role to play in addressing the environmental impact of AI. More than 190 countries have adopted a series of non-binding recommendations on the ethical use of AI, which covers the environment. The European Union and US have introduced legislation designed to manage the environmental impact of AI.
Technology has the power to be a positive force for tackling environmental challenges. Used effectively, it is proving a vital tool in tracking and addressing resource usage and harmful emissions. This information enables better decision-making and is a key part of meeting the climate challenge. However, an urgent solution is needed to meet the energy requirements of AI and it remains a work in progress.
