How the UK can advance High Performance Computing & AI sustainably

Britain must prioritize sustainability for HPC and AI

News By Youlian Tzanev published 7 October 2024

In May 2024, the UK entered the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) program which brings together supercomputing resources from across 35 countries, including Norway, Turkey and all 27 European Union (EU) member states.

By joining the prestigious program, the UK aims to bolster its scientific and technological leadership, foster international +, and leverage HPC to drive innovation and economic growth – all of which are extremely positive ambitions for the British IT industry. However, membership of the EuroHPC will also accelerate demand for energy in the UK, and this could even advance beyond the nation’s current capabilities. Especially given that the UK has yet to contend with the formidable energy demand surge created by increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The Chief Executive Officer of the UK’s National Grid, John Pettigrew, commented that AI will consume 500% more power in the UK during the next decade. This is not just a problem for the UK, but this electrical surge is quickly becoming a global issue. Data centers worldwide consumed 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2022, almost two percentage points of total global electricity demand. With the added power demand for AI, electricity consumption from data centers in the EU in 2026 is predicted to be 30 percent higher than 2023.

According to recent research by Goldman Sachs, AI is set to increase data center power demand by 160% by the end of the decade. This is not unexpected given that Google’s emissions have nearly doubled in the past five years alone thanks to AI. These shocking figures pose questions about the possibility of net-zero emissions by the end of the decade.

The key question remains, how can we sustainably meet this level of demand?

Youlian Tzanev

Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of NexGen Cloud.

The biggest trends of our time

AI and climate change are two of the most significant and impactful stories of our time, each shaping various aspects of society, the economy, and the environment in profound ways. They are far from being mutually exclusive. AI will doubtless play a role in tackling the challenges of climate change. Yet the power demands of data centers will put pressure on net zero goals.

Equivalent to the need for electricity, the UK also requires access to GPUs as it pushes to become an HPC and AI leader. But innovation must be sustainable to ensure that energy-intensive processes can be carried out with minimal environmental impact, and at no threat to the UK’s energy security.

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