Artificial intelligence was practically invisible a few years ago, but it has suddenly emerged to power almost everything that’s digital. From intelligent answer engines like Perplexity AI to navigation aids like Google Maps and the increasingly sophisticated social media algorithms on platforms like Facebook, AI is virtually everywhere.
Image generators, text generators, autonomous agents, product recommendation engines and ad platforms – you name it, these days, it’s probably powered by AI.
Everybody knows this of course, but not so many people understand the enormous electrical power that’s required to drive these emergent AI algorithms. And that needs to change. The vast computational energy needed to train and run AI comes from enormous data centers that soak up incredible amounts of electricity, and much of it is generated by traditional, carbon-intensive resources such as coal and oil. According to a study by the PennState Institute of Energy and the Environment, AI data centers are expected to use up to 8% of the USA’s entire energy production by the end of this decade. If left unchecked, it could have devastating consequences for the environment.
That explains why measures are being taken to transition the AI industry to clean energy sources. AI needs renewable energy for multiple reasons. First there’s the environmental impact. The energy requirements of AI models are only going to intensify, and that could potentially accelerate climate change. Beyond these concerns, the volatility of fossil fuel prices creates significant risk for AI companies and their consumers, and could one day result in soaring costs for AI services, limiting accessibility and eating away at the industry’s profits, threatening innovation.
By transitioning to renewable energy sources, AI companies can minimize the environmental impact of their operations and enjoy more stable infrastructure costs, creating a more sustainable and accessible industry that benefits everyone.
Projects Proving Cleaner AI Is Viable
It’s all very well saying that AI needs to become more sustainable, but is such a transition viable? Given the enormous energy demands of AI, the costs of switching to renewable energy may seem insurmountable, and certainly, traditional energy suppliers are unlikely to want to bear the burden of the required investments alone. Fortunately, they may not have to, for clean energy can in fact be decentralized and funded by everyone. One company that has already demonstrated this possibility is EcoYield, a startup that makes it possible for anyone to invest capital into clean energy facilities and reap the rewards of tokenized yield.
EcoYield has built a real-world asset platform where investors can fund an array of renewable energy projects in areas such as Leeds, U.K., and Dubai. These facilities are being constructed entirely from community-based funding and will provide a direct supply of clean energy to the AI industry, including data center operators and enterprises that want to run their AI models in the cloud. As an added advantage, it offers a dual revenue model. In addition to renting out its computing infrastructure to AI companies, its projects have power purchase agreements in place to sell off the excess energy they generate to national grids, ensuring a very stable and enticing yield for investors, with returns of up to 35%.
A similar initiative comes from Morphware, which provides an array of decentralized AI services including machine learning, AI agents and low-cost access to third-party large language models. It’s one of the most cost-effective AI infrastructure providers around, because it derives its energy entirely from hydroelectric power.
Morphware’s data centers are located in Paraguay near the enormous Itaipu Dam, which generates electricity from flowing water, ensuring low operating costs and minimal environmental impact. It’s a compelling model for more sustainable computing infrastructure that demonstrates how eco-friendly AI is a tangible goal.
Like EcoYield, Morphware operates a dual revenue model, generating income from its AI compute services and also from its Bitcoin mining operation, which is powered exclusively by excess hydroelectric energy.
Cleaner AI Is Inevitable
The viability of clean energy AI makes this transition almost certain. As the renewables industry benefits from innovations like more advanced wind turbines, more efficient solar panels and energy storage solutions, clean energy is going to become more cost effective over time. Meanwhile, the AI industry’s energy demands are only going to increase, adding to environmental concerns and creating the impetus AI companies need to prioritize sustainable data centers.
AI itself can also make renewable energy more cost effective, with innovations around smart electricity grids promising to optimize energy management and utilization, further lowering costs. AI can also be used to predict energy demands and enhance the performance of solar and wind farms.
With renewables providing both economic and environmental benefits and companies like EcoYield and Morphware pioneering pathways for this transition, only a fool would bet against the rise of a cleaner AI industry that’s not only possible, but likely very profitable.