#AI#GenerativeAI#LLMs#DataCenters#BigTech#Energy#WaterScarcity#FossilFuels#ClimateChange: "Large language models such as ChatGPT are some of the most energy-guzzling technologies of all. Research suggests, for instance, that about 700,000 litres of water could have been used to cool the machines that trained ChatGPT-3 at Microsoft’s data facilities. It is hardly news that the tech bubble’s self-glorification has obscured the uglier sides of this industry, from its proclivity for tax avoidance to its invasion of privacy and exploitation of our attention span. The industry’s environmental impact is a key issue, yet the companies that produce such models have stayed remarkably quiet about the amount of energy they consume – probably because they don’t want to spark our concern.
Google’s global datacentre and Meta’s ambitious plans for a new AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) further underscore the industry’s energy-intensive nature, raising concerns that these facilities could significantly increase energy consumption. Additionally, as these companies aim to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, they may opt to base their datacentres in regions with cheaper electricity, such as the southern US, potentially exacerbating water consumption issues in drier parts of the world. Before making big announcements, tech companies should be transparent about the resource use required for their expansion plans."
The Indian government continues its unrelenting pursuit of coal power while ordinary Indians succumb to the heat in record numbers.
While developed nations bear the bulk of the responsibility, developing nations cannot turn a blind eye the impacts of #ClimateBreakdown and their role in it.
All governments need to act NOW, not just set benchmarks and targets that are never met
"The era of fossil fuels’ dominance is coming to an end.
For every dollar that goes to #FossilFuels, an average of $3 needs to be invested in low-carbon energy over the remainder of the decade – up from parity today. A fully decarbonized global energy system by 2050 could come with a $215 trillion price tag – not an insignificant amount, but only 19% more than in an economics-driven transition, where the Paris Agreement goals are missed and global warming reaches 2.6C."
"The industry organization that regulates advertisements in Canada has ruled against one of Canada's largest pro-fossil fuel advocacy groups for spreading disinformation about the harmful climate impacts of liquified natural gas (LNG), according to a confidential decision. "
And they are ignoring that ruling!
Alarm as German climate activists charged with ‘forming a criminal organisation’
“This is the first time in German history that a climate protest group that uses measures of peaceful civil disobedience is charged as a criminal organisation."
“Paragraph 129 of the German criminal code is to combat organised crime. Its application to non-violent protest criminalises civic engagement and thus restricts democratic freedoms."
#Senate#Democrats opened an investigation on Thurs into #Trump’s meeting w/ #oil & #gas execs last month to determine whether Trump offered a “policies-for-money transaction” [#bribe ] when he asked for $1B for his 2024 campaign so he could retake the White House & delete #POTUS#Biden’s #climate#regulations.
The investigation is the 2nd congressional inquiry into the April 11 fund-raising dinner…. Trump told ~20 oil & gas execs that they would save far more than $1B in avoided #taxes & #legal fees after he repealed #environmental regulations….
New BloombergNEF report shows global climate goals are becoming harder to achieve & will cost more the longer the world remains addicted to #FossilFuelshttps://buff.ly/3QYfRiT
Australia 🇦🇺 has announced it will ramp up its extraction & use of #gas until "2050 and beyond", despite global calls to phase out #FossilFuelshttps://buff.ly/3wMoWV7
So while you & I might think its necessary to speed up the Green Transition & enhance/accelerate measures to reduce emissions, Shell's shareholders disagree.
The firm has just sought & obtained agreement from investors to slow down its measures to mitigate its environmental impact & reduce progress towards its own (already weak) climate targets.
More reason(s) the fossil fuels sector cannot really be central to climate response(s).
"The Trans Mountain Pipeline is open and it's costing me sleep"
"While Alberta Premier Danielle Smith issued an uncharacteristically gracious news release “to thank the federal government for seeing this project through,” P.M. Justin Trudeau was nowhere around to bask in that gratitude. Nor were any Liberal ministers. It’s almost like they’re not proud of what they have done."
The findings from Oil Change International wouldn't come as a surprise to many.
They reveal a stark disconnect between the climate plans of the 8 largest US and European-based international oil & gas producers, and the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
The strategies of US firms Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil were found to be ‘grossly insufficient’ across all evaluated criteria.
@MorpheusB when the proposed solutions are always decades away, this justifying ‘transition fuels’, it stinks like extending fossil fuels rather than solving the problem. We have technologies now that can help, but no, let’s delay the solution. #auspol#climate#fossilfuels
"The paper places a much higher estimate on economic losses than previous research, calculating a #SocialCostOfCarbon to be $1,056 per ton. This compares to a range set out by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that estimates the cost to be around $190 per ton.
The cost of transitioning away from #FossilFuels and curbing the impacts of #ClimateChange, while not trivial, pale in comparison to the cost of climate change itself."
'Woodcock’s entries in the Lords’ register of interests show he is paid to act as the chair of the Purpose Business Coalition, an organisation run by the PR and lobbying firm Crowne Associates, which counts the oil company #BP and the arms company #Leonardo among its clients.'
"Most of the funding, $621 million, will go toward 36 projects aimed at bolstering the resilience of existing infrastructure through things like improving draining, moving roadways, and lifting up bridges.
An additional $119 million will go toward protecting, strengthening, or removing at-risk coastal infrastructure like highways."
"In one of its biggest steps yet to keep #FossilFuels in the ground, the Biden administration announced Thursday that it will end new coal leasing in the #PowderRiverBasin, which produces nearly half the coal in the United States.
The bureau determined that no future coal leasing should happen in the basin, and it estimated that coal mining in the #Wyoming portion of the region would end by 2041."
Big Oil and its allies are attacking the International Energy Agency for forecasting a relatively imminent peak in fossil-fuel demand and the rapid uptake of #renewables
The fossil fuel industry is shooting the messenger, because the message contains the words "stranded assets".
If the banks hear that message, that industry is DONE.
"By analysing global accounting regulations using data on European banks, our team of researchers identified a structural bias in financial models which are required to assess and report risk.
Alarmingly, they tend to judge carbon-intensive assets as less risky than lower carbon ones."
"Even as insurers withdraw from #climate-vulnerable regions, they continue to invest in and insure #FossilFuels ― the very industry at the heart of the climate crisis. This omission points to a larger, uncomfortable truth about the insurance sector’s complicity in the crisis of our time, leading us to an uninsurable future."