Datacenters and crypto currencies will account for 3.5% of all the world’s energy consumption by 2027 in a baseline scenario published by the IMF last week.
“Because of the electricity used by high-powered equipment to “mine” crypto assets, one Bitcoin transaction requires roughly the same amount of electricity as the average person in Ghana or Pakistan consumes in three years,” wrote IMF researchers Shafik Hebous and Nate Vernon-Lin. “ChatGPT queries require 10 times more electricity than a Google search, due to the electricity consumed by AI data centers.”
Crypto mining alone could generate 0.7% of the world’s carbon emissions by 2027, according to the multilateral bank. In the highest electricity use scenario data centers and crypto would account for almost 6% of world’s emissions by 2027.
Currently many data centers and crypto miners enjoy tax exemptions and incentives on income, consumption and property.
In the long-term the the researchers propose a broad carbon priceas a way of reducing fossil-fuel consumption and improved energy efficiency. In the meantime the researchers advocate for targetted taxation as a means of bringing the growing electri city use of the data sector under control.
By Staff
