Environmental groups turn to AI despite concerns over data center emissions

Investing.com -- Conservation organizations are turning to artificial intelligence to monitor wildlife, detect wildfires, and process environmental research, even as the technology’s growing energy and water demands complicate their climate goals.

Environmental groups are confronting a tradeoff as data centers supporting AI expand rapidly. All 15 conservation and development organizations surveyed for a recent report said they used AI in some capacity and were concerned about its environmental footprint.

The International Energy Agency expects data centers to consume about 945 terawatt-hours of electricity annually by 2030, roughly twice current levels, with associated emissions exceeding 300 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. 

Water consumption could reach 1.2 trillion liters annually, up from 560 billion liters in 2023.

The issue is expected to feature at this month’s COP31 climate conference in Turkey, where organizers plan to seek commitments to sustainable AI development. The United Nations has also called for greater disclosure of AI systems’ environmental impacts.

Conservation groups point to substantial efficiency gains. Kenya’s Save the Elephants uses machine learning to assess aerial surveys that previously required nine people working nine months to review about 200,000 photographs. 

Similar analysis can now be completed in hours using models trained on Nvidia graphics technology.

The Jane Goodall Institute is using Amazon Web Services technology to digitize handwritten chimpanzee research from Tanzania. A project once expected to take 13 to 15 years could now be completed in approximately two.

Conservation International uses satellite imagery and AI to alert forest patrols to potential fires in Cambodia. The Nature Conservancy processes fishing-vessel footage with onboard AI cameras, reducing the need to transfer large video files to remote servers.

Other organizations are trying to curb unnecessary computing. The World Resources Institute limits intensive image and video generation and reuses previously processed AI results.

Greenpeace remains skeptical of expanding data center infrastructure, reflecting divisions over whether AI’s conservation benefits justify its environmental costs.