Lead

A United Nations study has identified Hong Kong's data centres as among the most carbon-intensive in the world, pointing to the city's heavy reliance on a fossil-fuel-powered energy grid. The report, released on Wednesday, also projects that the environmental footprint of artificial intelligence will grow sharply by 2030 unless governments act.

The study, conducted by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, assesses the global carbon, water and land impacts of AI's energy consumption. Its findings were reported by Global Voices, the South China Morning Post, and The Hindu.

Coverage Comparison

Global Voices, which republished an article by Tom Grundy from Hong Kong Free Press, emphasized that Hong Kong's data centres are among the most carbon-intensive globally. The report states that the city's energy mix is 67 percent derived from fossil fuels, 32 percent from nuclear, and just 1 percent from renewables.

The South China Morning Post noted that Hong Kong ranks among the world's largest data centre hubs but has a carbon footprint exceeding the global average. The report calls for a responsible strategy to tackle the 'unintended impacts' of using AI, according to the newspaper.

The Hindu focused on the global projections, reporting that data centres are expected to consume twice as much power and water by 2030 as they expand to meet the surge in demand from AI.

The UN report, titled "Environmental Cost of AI's Energy Use," includes specific figures on the carbon intensity of various grids. According to the report, Indonesia, India, and Hong Kong (SAR) have carbon footprints 62 percent, 51 percent, and 43 percent higher than the global average, respectively. Poland and Mainland China rank lower with carbon intensities 30 percent and 21 percent higher than the global average. In comparison, the US, Germany, and Italy have carbon footprints 18 percent, 24 percent, and 32 percent below the global average.

Key Claims

  • Data centres consumed 448 terawatt-hours of electricity globally last year, more than the whole of Saudi Arabia, and AI accounted for a fifth of the total, as reported by The Hindu.
  • The same source reported that data centres consumed 4.5 trillion litres of water and generated 189 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
  • Annual power consumption from data centres is projected to double to 945 TWh by 2030, around the same as Japan, with AI accounting for 40 percent of the total, according to The Hindu.
  • Water consumption is expected to reach 9.3 trillion litres, while CO2 emissions will rise to 399 million tons, as reported by The Hindu.
  • Global Voices reported that by 2030, data centres could consume 945 terawatt-hours of energy, which is "nearly triple the combined annual electricity use of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria, countries collectively home to more than 650 million people," according to a UN press release.
  • The South China Morning Post highlighted that every kilowatt-hour of electricity used to train an AI system carries water and land footprints, in addition to carbon emissions.
  • The same source reported that once an AI model is in use, continuous operations stemming from everyday user prompts account for 80 percent of its total energy use.
  • Global Voices reported that "AI-related water consumption could equal the basic annual domestic needs of 1.3 billion people by the end of the decade, while its land footprint may exceed 14,500 square kilometres — roughly twice the size of the Jakarta metropolitan area."
  • The Hindu also noted that the data centre land footprint is forecast to increase from 6,900 square km last year to more than 14,500 square km by 2030.
Kaveh Madani, the institute's director and the report's lead author, is quoted in The Hindu's coverage as saying: "The public debate still often treats AI as software, but AI is also physical infrastructure: data centres, electricity generation, cooling systems, transmission networks, chips, minerals, land and water." He added: "Right now, the competition for growing faster than others overshadows the very basic principles of sustainable growth."

The report acknowledges that AI could boost efficiency by optimising power grids and reducing waste, but overall electricity and water demand is still likely to rise as countries and corporations race to build new capacity, as reported by The Hindu. The report is a call for using AI "responsibly and addressing its unintended impacts proactively to make it sustainable and equitable," Madani told the South China Morning Post.

Perspectives

The UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, through its report and director Kaveh Madani, argues that AI's environmental costs are significant and require proactive management. The report calls for governments to heed the rising environmental costs and to use AI responsibly. Madani emphasizes that AI is physical infrastructure with real resource demands, and that competition is overshadowing sustainable growth principles.

No other named perspectives were included in the provided coverage.