AI Energy Gap Will Not Be Closed in Our Lifetime

The amount of energy required to supply the data centers powering AI is so vast that meeting that need may be more than a lifetime away. The gap between what AI is demanding and what we have everywhere in the world on the grid in terms of generation and transmission is huge and will not be closed in our lifetime.

That means sustainable energy investors need to accept that renewables alone aren’t enough to power the AI age, he said. The comments encapsulate a new approach across the finance industry, where the economics of the energy transition — a concept intended to represent the shift to a low-carbon future — are becoming merged with the economics of an unprecedented boost in supply. “So what is happening around the world, there’s no doubt about it, is what you might call energy addition,” Stangis said. “The world is scrambling to add every source of power.”