On February 10th, Veolia and Microsoft released a report on AI and energy, water, and waste management. One of the short chapters in that report is a framing article about AI and energy use by me and Eric Masanet at UC Santa Barbara. The article distinguishes three ways AI might
Read moreIn the previous post, we announced our new Python package that helps modelers explore the key greenhouse gas emissions drivers in their scenarios. This post shows examples of visual dashboards that these tools allow you to create. There are three main dashboards, as documented in Koomey et al. 2019 and
Read moreTLDR: Below you can download a new open-source python package for calculating and comparing key drivers of emissions using outputs from Integrated Assessment Models. In 2004-2006 I served on the dissertation committee of Holmes Hummel at Stanford University. Holmes's thesis showed how a commonly used identity (called the
Read moreWith recent growth in the data center industry has come increasing scrutiny about direct water use in these facilities [1]. Data center water use varies by facility type, location, and operational choices [2, 3]. These facilities use water because it’s usually more energy efficient to cool computing equipment using
Read moreThis report is the result of a collaboration between Koomey Analytics and the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, DC. Summary: Recent reports of unprecedented growth in electricity demand from data centers have appeared in many major news outlets. These headlines encapsulate two widely expressed concerns. First, that rising energy demand
Read moreWhen we first created the Koomey.com site circa 2010, we used Tumblr, which was a capable blogging site. We customized the site (with some difficulty) but it mostly performed well for a long time (almost 15 years). This past summer we started investigating other options, and soon settled on
Read moreThe modern data center lies at the heart of today’s digital global economy, performing computing tasks like e-commerce, communications, search, financial modeling, and artificial intelligence (AI). Data centers undergo constant change, both in the workloads they run 24x7 and the hardware that runs those applications. Lack of adequate planning
Read moreOur new article in Joule on data needs for understanding AI electricity use came out online today in Joule (link will be good until October 8, 2024). Here’s the summary section: As the famous quote from George Box goes, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” Bottom-up AI
Read moreMy friend and colleague Danny Cullenward and I were on KQED Forum this morning, talking about the environmental impacts of our digital lives. Lesley McClurg was the host. You shouldn’t worry at all about your digital footprint, as we discussed in the show. It’s small and constantly improving,
Read moreThe frenzy over new projections of electricity growth continues to escalate. This excellent episode of the Energy Transition Show is the best counterweight to that crisis mentality that I’ve found. The show notes themselves are extensive for those who want to dig in further. Short summary: There are many
Read moreI worked with a stellar team of the world’s top experts on computing’s effect on energy and emissions to craft this commentary for Nature, which came out today (April 22, 2024): Luers, Amy, Jonathan Koomey, Eric Masanet, Owen Gaffney, Felix Creutzig, Juan Lavista Ferres, and Eric Horvitz. 2024.
Read moreThis conversation was a fun one. here’s the description: Will the rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence break the climate system? In recent months, utilities and tech companies have argued that soaring use of AI will overwhelm electricity markets. Is that true — or is it a sales pitch
Read moreIn 2011, we replaced lighting cans with LED inserts in our house, instantly reducing lighting energy use by 50% or more. The inserts looked like the ones on the left in the photos below. Recently (September 2023) I needed to buy a few more to replace some of the old
Read moreEvery year since Chris Nelder started the Energy Transition Show, he’s interviewed me for the annual roundup episode, and this year is no exception. We discuss the proper role of government in a capitalist economy, climate change doomism, how the fossil fuel industry rigs the system, and the difficulties
Read moreI, along with colleagues at World Resources Institute and Koomey Analytics, just had a commentary published in WIRES Climate Change. It’s titled “Abandon the idea of an ‘optimal economic path’ for climate policy”. Many economic modelers think that if given enough time, money, graduate students, and coffee they can
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