Now to meet its goals, the software giant will have to make serious progress very quickly in gaining access to green steel and concrete and less carbon-intensive chips

 

Today’s newsletter looks at how artificial intelligence is foiling efforts to cut greenhouse gases. You can read and share the full story on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate and energy news, please subscribe.

Technical difficulties

By Akshat Rathi and Dina Bass When Microsoft Corp. pledged four years ago to remove more carbon than it emits by the end of the decade, it was one of the most ambitious and comprehensive plans to tackle climate change. Now the software giant's relentless push to be the global leader in artificial intelligence is putting that goal in peril. The Seattle-based company’s total planet-warming impact is about 30% higher today than it was in 2020, according to the latest sustainability report published Wednesday. That makes getting to below zero by 2030 even harder than it was when it announced its carbon-negative goal. Now to meet its goals, the software giant will have to make serious progress very quickly in gaining access to green steel and concrete and less carbon-intensive chips, said Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg Green. “In 2020, we unveiled what we called our carbon moonshot. That was before the explosion in artificial intelligence,” he said. “So in many ways the moon is five times as far away as it was in 2020, if you just think of our own forecast for the expansion of AI and its electrical needs.” Microsoft’s predicament is one of the first concrete examples of how the pursuit of AI is colliding with efforts to cut emissions. Choosing to capitalize on its early lead in the new market for generative AI has made Microsoft the most valuable company in the world, but its leaders also acknowledge keeping up with demand will mean investing more heavily in polluting assets. AI products are power hungry and data-processing heavy. That first increases the workload of existing centers, which increases energy use. But such is the demand that, to keep up, Microsoft has to also build new data centers. That requires carbon-intensive cement, steel and microchips. Brad Smith speaks at Gateway Technical College in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, on May 8. Photographer: Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg The tech giant plans to spend more than $50 billion between July 2023 and June of this year on expanding its data centers to meet rising demand for AI products. That number for the next 12 months, starting in July, is expected to be even higher, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said in an interview last month. Since February, the company has touted new data center projects in Wisconsin, Thailand, Indonesia, Spain, Germany and Japan. Smith believes the good AI can do for the world will outweigh its environmental impact. “We fundamentally believe that the answer is not to slow down the expansion of AI but to speed up the work needed to make it more environmentally friendly,” said Smith. “I guarantee there’s one way to fail: It’s to give up.” Read the full story here.

Small but growing 1.5% Data centers around the world currently comprise about this share of global electricity use, according to the International Energy Agency. But this may go up as AI requires more energy than other forms of computing.

A tough calculation  "We're talking about ChatGPT and we know nothing about it. It could be three raccoons in a trench coat." Sasha Luccioni A researcher at AI company Hugging Face Inc. AI is responsible for a massive and growing amount of planet-warming carbon emissions, but just how much is hard for some researchers to tally.

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Attempts to improve resilience to extreme heat across India have often been equally ill-conceived, despite a death toll estimated at more than 24,000 since 1992. Inconsistent or incomplete planning, a lack of funding, and the failure to make timely preparations to shield a population of 1.4 billion are leaving communities vulnerable as periods of extreme temperatures become more frequent, longer in duration and affect a wider sweep of the country. In Kolkata, one of the most vulnerable cities in the world to temperature extremes, local officials are now examining potential solutions to combat urban heat —  from the addition of more trees to the use of porous concrete. Street vendors and market goers protect themselves from heat in Kolkata on April 23.  Photographer: Arko Datto/Bloomberg Yet, heat is rising fast. Several regions across India will see as many as 11 heat wave days this month compared to 3 in a typical year, while maximum temperatures in recent weeks have already touched 47.2C in the nation’s east, according to the India Meteorological Department. Those extremes come amid a national election during which high temperatures are being cited as among factors for lower voter turnout. Our brains are feeling the heat. Conditions like dementia, epilepsy and depression could spread and worsen in severity as the world heats up, according to new research.  The race for climate solutions continues. The Biden administration is seeking to bolster US solar manufacturers with a suite of policies that it says will help foster a deeper domestic supply chain for panels. Can greener house renovations make a difference? To reduce carbon emissions and building waste, architectural salvage and reuse advocates across the US are racing to reform the $8.7 billion demolition industry. Worth a listen After 14 years as a member of Parliament for the UK’s Conservative Party, Chris Skidmore quit the government in January — an act of protest over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to allow new oil and gas licenses. Skidmore says the party has lost its way on climate issues, costing the UK jobs, human lives and opportunities for growth. On this week’s Zero, Skidmore talks about how he tackled climate risks while in office, and why a vote for Conservatives no longer makes sense for anyone who cares about the environment. Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Google to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.