computing

AI and energy

August 20, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

MIT recently hosted a symposium on the subject of artificial intelligence being both a problem and a solution for the clean energy transition.

AI-powered computing centers are expanding rapidly, creating an unprecedented surge in electricity demand. Electricity demand in the US had been relatively flat for decades but now these computing centers consume about 4% of the nation’s electricity. Some projections say that this demand could rise to 12-15% in the next five years.

The power required for sustaining some of the AI large-language models is doubling every three months. The amount of electricity used by a single ChatGPT conversation is as much as it takes to charge a phone and consumes the equivalent of a bottle of water for cooling.

The MIT symposium focused on the challenges of meeting these growing energy needs but also on the potential for AI to dramatically improve power systems and reduce carbon emissions.

Research shows regional variations in the cost of powering computing centers with clean electricity. The central United States offers lower costs due to complementary solar and wind resources but would require massive battery deployments to provide uninterrupted power.

Because of data center demand, there is renewed interest in nuclear power, often in the form of small modular reactors, as well as efforts in long-duration storage technologies, geothermal power, or hybrid approaches.

Artificial intelligence offers both great promise and great peril. It will take real intelligence to steer it in the right direction.

**********

Web Links

Confronting the AI/energy conundrum

Photo, posted August 31, 2024, courtesy of Jefferson Lab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

More efficient cooling for data centers

July 22, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Increasing reliance on digital technologies in general and artificial intelligence in particular are dramatically increasing the energy consumption of data centers. Data centers consume far more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings. By the year 2030, data center energy consumption in the US is projected to reach 9% of the country’s electricity generation.

Computing hardware consumes large amounts of energy and generates large amounts of heat in the process. Currently, cooling the equipment so it doesn’t burn out accounts for as much as 40% of a data center’s total energy use.

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new cooling technology that could significantly improve the energy efficiency of data centers. The technology makes use of a specially engineered fiber membrane that passively removes heat through evaporation.

The membrane has a network of tiny, interconnected pores that draw cooling liquid across the membrane surface using capillary action. As the liquid evaporates, it removes heat from the electronics underneath. No extra energy is required.

Tests of the membrane demonstrated record-breaking performance in removing heat from electronics and being able to withstand very high levels of heat flux.

The researchers say that the technology is still operating well below its theoretical limit, and with additional work, can lead to optimized performance. The membranes will be integrated into cold plates, which are components that attach to power-hungry computing components to dissipate heat. The team is also launching a startup company to commercialize the new cooling technology.

**********

Web Links

New Cooling Tech Could Curb Data Centers’ Rising Energy Demands

Photo, posted January 23, 2023, courtesy of Jefferson Lab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Computing With Honey | Earth Wise

April 28, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Researchers are always working to develop faster and more powerful computers. Some of them believe that the future of computing lies with neuromorphic computers, which are systems designed to mimic the neurons and synapses found in the human brain.

The human brain has more than 100 billion neurons with more than 1 quadrillion synapses or connections among them. These numbers far exceed anything people have built. There have been some neuromorphic computer chips made that have the equivalent of more than 100 million neurons per chip, but this is still far less than the number in the brain. Despite all its complexity, the brain uses vastly less power than a powerful computer. Some supercomputers use tens of millions of watts to operate; the brain uses around 10 to 20 watts.

Many researchers are searching for biodegradable and renewable ways to make neuromorphic computing components. Researchers at Washington State University have demonstrated a way to make them using, of all things, honey. The honey is used to form a memristor, which is a component similar to a transistor that can both process and store data in memory. The device uses honey processed into a solid form and sandwiched between two metal electrodes. The organic device is very stable and reliable over a long time.

So far, these devices are on a micro scale – about the size of a human hair. The researchers want to develop them on a nanoscale, which is about 1/1000 the width of a human hair, and then bundle many millions or even billions together to make a neuromorphic computing system. Such a honey-based system would be renewable and biodegradable – which, pardon the pun, would be really sweet.

**********

Web Links

Honey holds potential for making brain-like computer chips

Photo, posted January 28, 2008, courtesy of Dino Giordano via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Biomimicry Is Big

February 8, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Biomimicry is learning from and then emulating nature’s forms, processes, and ecosystems to create more sustainable designs. Mother Nature is already the inspiration for countless products and designs ranging from Velcro copied from plant burs to the shape of wind turbines modeled after whale fins. There are wetsuits inspired by beaver pelts and office buildings that copy termite dens. Increasingly, innovators are looking at nature for designs in architecture, chemistry, agriculture, energy, health, transportation, computing, and even for the structure of organizations and cities.

[Read more…] about Biomimicry Is Big