Assessing the Environmental Impact and Carbon Footprint of Artificial Intelligence Development in India
As AI integration grows, its environmental costs, including high electricity consumption and carbon emissions, are coming under scrutiny. Reports suggest the ICT industry accounts for 1.8%-2.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. A single AI prompt can consume significantly more energy than a standard search. The article calls for India to include AI impact assessments within its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) framework. It suggests adopting sustainable practices like using renewable energy for data centers and following international guidelines like UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of large-scale algorithms.
Key Points
- Training a single Large Language Model (LLM) can generate approximately 300,000 kilograms of carbon emissions.
- AI servers may utilize up to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water for cooling by 2027, leading to water scarcity concerns.
- India needs to measure the environmental costs of developing large AI algorithms through mandatory disclosure standards.
- Sustainable practices include deploying pre-trained models and using renewable resources to power data centers.
Exam Facts
- UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI (2021)
- EIA Notification 2006
- UNEP study 'Navigating New Horizons' (July 2024)
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