How to stop data centres from gobbling up the world’s electricity
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AI can help ensure that the resources underpinning circular businesses are themselves sustainable, for example by optimising energy use in data centres.
“For instance, in 2016, DeepMind developed an AI system that tuned Google data centres' cooling systems based on the weather and other factors, thus reducing the cooling energy bill by 40% (Jones 2018).”
From Artificial intelligence in support of the circular economy: ethical considerations and a path forward (2024) · cites this paper as Jones 2018
The overall demand for electricity from the digital technology sector is growing rapidly.
“The overall demand for electricity from the digital technology sector is growing rapidly (Jones, 2018).”
From Climate change and COP26: Are digital technologies and information management part of the problem or the solution? An editorial reflection and call to action (2022) · cites this paper as Jones, 2018
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- Authors
- Jones, N.
- Corresponding author
- Jones, Nicola
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2018-09
- Volume
- 561
- Issue
- 7722
- Pages
- 163-166
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2891113010
- Cited by
- 1,166
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 171 · 2025: 212 · 2024: 203 · 2023: 195 · 2022: 131 · 2021: 144 · 2020: 82 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 72.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Hardware and Architecture › Energy Efficiency in Computing
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Green IT and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Cloud Computing and Resource Management
- Keywords
- data centers, energy efficiency, electricity consumption, data center cooling, cloud computing, Bitcoin mining, Facebook, Google
- MeSH terms
- Big Data, Conservation of Energy Resources, Electricity, Environment, Hot Temperature, Efficiency, Organizational, Internet, Cell Phone, Renewable Energy
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