Net Zero Shipwrecked: AI’s Insatiable Hunger for Electricity Sinks the Green Dream! By James Reed

The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is reshaping the world, driving breakthroughs in data analysis, automation, and innovation. But it's also exposing a fatal flaw in the global push for Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. AI's voracious appetite for electricity is colliding head-on with the limitations of renewable energy, revealing the Net Zero agenda as a politically driven fantasy, not a scientifically grounded plan. As data centres multiply to power AI's computational needs, reliable energy sources like nuclear, natural gas, and coal are proving indispensable. The green dream of wind and solar dominance is sinking under the weight of reality, and AI's love for electricity is the iceberg.

AI isn't just a technological leap; it's an energy hog. From training complex models to running real-time applications, AI demands sprawling data centers that consume staggering amounts of power. A 2025 RAND Corp. report estimates global AI data centres already require over 20 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, equivalent to twice Utah's total generating capacity. By 2026, this could surge to 68 GW, rivalling California's entire output. By 2030, projections point to a jaw-dropping 300 GW, far outstripping the growth of renewable energy capacity.

The U.S. alone has seen a 40% increase in data centres in just 18 months. Take the Colossus supercomputer in Memphis: it guzzles 150 megawatts, enough to power 53,000 homes. Tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, once vocal champions of carbon neutrality, are now grappling with energy demands that double or triple their previous forecasts. Their carbon footprints are ballooning, driven by AI's relentless need for compute power. This isn't speculation, it's happening now.

The climate lobby's mantra is that wind and solar can replace fossil fuels. But the numbers expose this as wishful thinking. In 2023, natural gas provided 43% of U.S. electricity, coal 16%, and nuclear 19%, while wind and solar combined managed just 14%. Renewables face three insurmountable hurdles:

1.Intermittency: Solar panels are useless at night or on cloudy days, and wind turbines stall when the air is still. AI data centres require constant, reliable power, something renewables can't deliver without massive, costly battery storage that doesn't yet exist at scale.

2.Land Inefficiency: Solar and wind farms demand vast tracts of land. The U.S. Department of Interior notes renewables are 5,500 times less efficient per acre than nuclear plants. Covering thousands of acres for AI's energy needs is neither practical nor environmentally benign.

3.Transmission Bottlenecks: Connecting scattered renewable sources to data centers requires thousands of kilometres of new power lines. Building this infrastructure is slow, expensive, and mired in regulatory delays. Energy expert Steve Gorham calls relying on renewables for AI "pure fantasy," the grid simply can't scale fast enough.

While renewables flounder, nuclear, natural gas, and coal remain the backbone of reliable energy. Nuclear power, clean and efficient, is seeing a renaissance, with new plants approved in the U.S. and Europe to meet AI's baseload demands. Natural gas, supplying nearly half of U.S. electricity, is scalable and flexible, making it indispensable for the AI boom. Coal, despite environmentalist opposition, continues to power much of the developing world, where AI infrastructure is also expanding.

The maths is unforgiving. To meet AI's projected 300 GW demand by 2030, renewables would need a miraculous expansion far beyond current projections. The International Energy Agency estimates global renewable capacity will reach only 7,300 terawatt-hours by 2028, barely a dent in AI's needs. Nuclear and fossil fuels, by contrast, offer proven, high-density energy that can be deployed now.

The 2050 Net Zero target, championed by bureaucrats and activists, was always more about control than science. Tech giants like Google and Microsoft pledged carbon neutrality by 2030, but the AI boom has shredded those commitments. A 2025 Carbon Market Watch report rated their climate strategies as "poor" to "very poor" in integrity, as their energy consumption skyrockets. The Net Zero agenda assumes renewables can scale infinitely while ignoring physics and economics. It's a top-down imposition, not a practical roadmap.

The hypocrisy is stark. Politicians and corporations push green rhetoric while quietly relying on fossil fuels to keep the lights on. The UK's energy crisis, with soaring costs and grid strain, exemplifies the folly of choosing ideology over reliability. AI's rise is forcing a reckoning: innovation and economic growth depend on abundant, stable energy, not intermittent trickle.

The AI revolution is presumably unstoppable given the globalist money involved, and so is its hunger for electricity. To sustain it, we must reject the Net Zero dogma and embrace pragmatic solutions:

Expand Nuclear Power: Build more nuclear plants, leveraging their clean, high-density energy to power data centres. Small modular reactors offer a faster, cheaper path to deployment.

Leverage Natural Gas: Expand gas infrastructure as a reliable bridge fuel, ensuring grid stability while nuclear scales up.

Reject Energy Rationing: Policies that restrict energy use to meet arbitrary carbon targets, stifle innovation and harm economies. Freedom depends on abundant power.

Reassess Coal's Role: In developing nations, coal remains a vital energy source. Phasing it out prematurely risks economic stagnation and energy poverty. Likewise for Australia; follow China's lead and use our vast coal reserves. China and India do not believe in climate change mythologies, and nor should the West.

The Net Zero dream is shipwrecked on the rocks of AI's reality. The choice is clear: cling to ideological fantasies and cripple progress, or embrace nuclear and fossil fuels such as coal to fuel the future. AI loves electricity, and so does human prosperity.

https://www.naturalnews.com/2025-08-15-ai-energy-demand-exposes-folly-net-zero.html