Planet burner or saviour? Why AI Might Just Save the Grid It’s Breaking
TL;DR – While chatting with my co-conspirator about the Black Mirror-esque reality AI is speeding us towards, I asked: is AI forcing the clean energy issue? Turns out – yes. It’s the problem, the catalyst, and possibly the solution.
Artificial Intelligence (AI or A1 if you’re the US Education Secretary) is no longer just a tool — it's becoming the infrastructure. If you use the internet, you can’t avoid it. It's running our search engines, analysing medical scans, managing traffic, composing emails and increasingly shaping sectors from education to energy systems.
But the same thing keeps being asked in the comments sections:
Do you realise how bad AI is for the planet?
Because AI is hungry. Every time you generate an image of yourself with a shark, ask a chatbot a question, or use it to organise any aspect of your life, you're activating power-intensive data centres somewhere in the world. The more we integrate AI into our lives — in medicine, transport, education, finance, you name it — the more electricity we'll require.
Global electricity demand from data centres is projected to more than double by 2030, reaching approximately 945 terawatt-hours (TWh), slightly more than the entire electricity consumption of Japan today. AI is identified as the most significant driver of this increase, with electricity demand from AI-optimised data centres expected to more than quadruple by 2030[i].
We can't meet that demand with fossil fuels. Not unless we want to:
- Accelerate the depletion of reserves
- Send energy bills soaring
- Exceed every climate target
- Leave younger generations questioning our foresight
No – this isn’t another anti-AI, save the planet post – if AI is our future — and it is — then a future powered by clean, reliable, affordable energy is the only viable option.
I’m a sustainability professional that has never like the undefined term "net zero" as a vague moral goal and I’m unfazed by recent attempts to politicise it. I welcome the opportunity to turn the energy conversation to something more tangible: how to power AI forever (also our homes, businesses and stuff with reasonable bills and not relying on unpredictable dictators and unethical regimes to keep the supply coming).
Is AI forcing the Clean Energy issue?
This isn’t just a climate issue. It’s a current, capacity and connectivity issue.
This isn’t about polar bears, it’s about power grids.
As AI eats its way into everything from banking to biotech, it’s creating a surge in electricity demand that no fossil-fuel fantasy can sustainably meet. Data centres don’t sleep and they don’t run on likes — they need clean, constant power.
Big tech companies are acutely aware of this. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are already racing to secure access to clean power. Microsoft has announced an ambitious $80 billion plan to develop AI-focused data centres in the United States by 2028[i], emphasizing sustainability innovations. Google has partnered with Elementl Power to develop three advanced nuclear energy sites, each expected to generate 600 megawatts of power, to meet the growing electricity demands driven by AI technologies[ii] (there’s a 16 min video here if you want to know more).
What are they using to solve the issues? AI!
AI is playing a transformative role in enhancing the efficiency and functionality of renewable energy systems. It aids in optimizing power generation, improving grid management and reducing carbon emissions by up to 50%[iii].
Meanwhile, researchers are leveraging AI to expedite the clean energy transition. For example, at the University of Leicester, the AI4NetZero project is utilising machine learning to enhance how we track and manage emissions. Elsewhere, AI is aiding in predicting renewable output, optimising energy grids and accelerating breakthroughs in battery technology[iv].
So the loop is already forming: we need clean power to run AI and AI can help us scale clean power.
But only if we make it a priority.
The Real Risk? Delaying the Obvious
Some political figures remain anchored in the past. "Drill, baby, drill" might offer a few years of relatively cheap fuel, but it's not a sustainable plan. For younger generations who anticipate living into the 2080s, it's a dead end.
What we need is:
- Significant investment in renewables and grid storage
- Smarter policies linking digital growth to clean power supply
- Public pressure reframing climate action as energy resilience
Because AI isn't going away, and nor should it, not when it can help us manage resources better, identify risks earlier and design more efficient systems. If we want to keep the lights on (and the servers running), we need to stop pretending that energy and AI are two separate conversations.
Let's embrace the technology — and build the infrastructure to match.
So if Net Zero feels stale, abstract or easy to dismiss, perhaps it's time we found a phrase that speaks more to the world we're powering.
We need a rebrand
"Net zero" might sound like an accounting trick to some, but powering AI indefinitely? That's a concrete, collective challenge we can actually solve.
I asked ChatGPT to come up with something better – which do you like?
- Powering Progress
- Future-Fit Power
- Fuel for the Future
- Infinite Energy
- Intelligent Energy
- Clean Grid
Their recommendation was a two-part branding strategy:
Main slogan: Infinite Energy: Powering Progress Through AI and Clean Infrastructure
Subtitle or programme name, e.g: Delivered through the Clean Grid Guarantee or via the Intelligent Energy Plan
I’d love to hear more ideas – from human or artificial intelligence!
[i] https://construction-today.com/news/microsoft-bets-80-billion-on-ai-data-centers-and-sustainability/
[ii] https://www.datacenterfrontier.com/energy/article/55282719/googles-ai-powered-grid-revolution-how-data-centers-are-reshaping-the-us-power-landscape
[iv] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196890424001481
[i] https://www.iea.org/news/ai-is-set-to-drive-surging-electricity-demand-from-data-centres-while-offering-the-potential-to-transform-how-the-energy-sector-works
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