Increased use of Big Tech data centers has created public health costs worth more than $5.4 billion over the past five years.
Air pollution derived from the large amount of energy needed to run a data center is associated with the treatment of cancer, asthma and other related issues, according to research by UC Riverside and Caltech.
Scholars estimated that the cost of treating this contamination-related illness was $1.5 billion in 2023, an increase of 20% from the previous year. They found that the total cost since 2019 was $5.4 billion.
This issue is set to exacerbate itself by the race to develop generative AI. This requires enormous computing resources to rapidly develop large-scale language models.
Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta predict that AI spending could exceed $3200 billion this year. Meanwhile, Openai and SoftBank last month announced plans for a massive US AI infrastructure collaboration venture called “Stargate.”
The findings of UC Riverside and Caltech were derived using widely used modeling tools from the US Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA model translates estimated air quality and impacts on human health into monetary value.
The estimates suggest that Google generated the largest health costs of $2.6 billion over the five years from 2019 to 2023, followed by Microsoft at $1.6 billion and Meta at $1.2 billion. Public health costs associated with each company have risen year-on-year. Other companies such as Amazon were not included in their analysis because they didn’t release the critical data needed to model impact.
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Data centers often cause pollution due to the high power usage provided by fossil fuels. The backup generators needed in the event of a shutdown generally drive the diesel and also contribute to air pollution. Meanwhile, waste from hardware such as chips can release harmful chemicals into the environment.
The public health impact of Big Tech was calculated by distributing Google and Microsoft’s North American electricity consumption to US data center locations and using public sustainability reports. Meta used electricity usage data for each location not provided by the first two companies.
This analysis does not consider purchasing market-based products aimed at representing investments in new renewable energy in the United States, as well as purchasing by high-tech companies to offset pollution from electricity consumption. These devices include a renewable energy certificate.
Instead, this study focuses on pollution generated in a particular area where data is being processed, in an accounting approach known as “location-based.”
“Unlike carbon emissions, the health impacts caused by data centers in one local cannot be offset by clean air elsewhere,” said Shaolei Ren, an associate professor at UC Riverside. It’s there.
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Google, Meta and Microsoft said the use of backup generators is below the estimated level of research based on median estimates of usage from published levels. Companies did not provide detailed location-by-location numbers to use backup generators.
Google says its health cost estimates are exaggerated and “doesn’t take into account clean energy purchases in the local market we operate,” and therefore “inaccurately generated under the false pretenses.” It also promotes emission estimates and impairs the growth of clean energy resources. And creates a false narrative of health harms.”
The company added that its purchase will allow it to achieve an average of around 64% carbon-free energy.
Microsoft said it focuses on “providing important local, economic, social and environmental benefits to the communities we operate.”
Meta complies with air quality requirements, and “maintaining net zero greenhouse gas emissions for global operations, building innovative and sustainable infrastructure, progressing sustainability goals.” He said he is working to report the situation transparently and supports the community in which we operate.
Research shows that health impacts disproportionately affected low-income households due to the location of data centers such as West Virginia and Ohio.
Ren said there is an opportunity for tech groups to reverse the trend of “growth in public health threats.”
According to another report from the Department of Energy-backed Berkeley Lab, US data center energy usage accounts for around 4% of US electricity consumption in 2023, and is projected to rise to 7-12% by 2028. It’s been done. Depends on AI workload demand.
“These are the best ways to improve our lives,” said Antonis Milidakis, lecturer at Environmental Sciences at Brunel University, London. “It’s a key contributing factor to air quality and public health and it’s not something we can ignore.”
Additional Reports by Kenza Brian and Camila Hodgson
