Hidden sustainability costs of AI

Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.

In this episode, researchers describe the sustainability impact of AI data centers.

In this episode, we cover:

•[00:00] Introduction

•[01:20] Bronis de Supinski describes how the energy demands of AI data centers have increased in recent years and why improvements in data center energy efficiency will not necessarily reduce total energy expenditures

•[03:08] Eric Masanet explains the difficulty of tracking and projecting the energy usage of AI data centers.

•[05:12] Shaolei Ren describes the water usage and air pollution associated with AI data centers.

•[07:30] Tevfik Kosar explains how AI might be leveraged as a tool to help address climate change and sustainability challenges.

•[09:00] Final thoughts and conclusion.

About Our Guests:

Bronis de Supinski 

Chief Technology Officer

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 

Eric Masanet 

Professor

University of California Santa Barbara

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Shaolei Ren 

Associate Professor 

University of California Riverside

Tevfik Kosar 

Professor

University at Buffalo

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Erscheinungs­datum: 23.2.2026, 15:00:00