AI will drive decarbonisation and boost energy efficiency, say top executives

Joint study by Adnoc, Masdar and Microsoft surveyed more than 400 global leaders, including Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and BlackRock's Larry Fink

The Panorama Command Centre and Artificial Intelligence space at the Adnoc headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Artificial Intelligence will revolutionise the energy sector, slashing emissions and boosting efficiency, according to a report jointly published by Adnoc, Masdar and Microsoft on Thursday.

Around 92 per cent of executives believe AI will have a significant impact on improving energy efficiency by 2030, and 97 per cent expect AI to play a central role by 2050 in developing new energy solutions, according to the report titled Powering Possible: AI and Energy for a Sustainable Future.

The report surveyed more than 400 global leaders in sectors such as technology, energy and finance, including Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, Larry Fink, BlackRock's chief executive, and Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of French energy giant TotalEnergies.

The study underscored AI's ability to clean up traditional energy sources, improve energy use and speed up the shift to cleaner energy.

“We are at a pivotal moment for human progress driven by three megatrends: the rise of the Global South, the accelerated energy transition and the rapid growth of AI,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.

“AI is an era-defining innovation that is altering the pace of change itself – resetting the boundaries of productivity and the possibilities of progress,” said Dr Al Jaber, who is also Adnoc’s group chief executive and managing director.

The energy sector typically contributes more than 90 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions and 75 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries, according to the UN.

The jointly authored report highlighted the role AI can play in reducing methane emissions – a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.

New AI tools can detect methane leaks much more accurately than older methods, and will be crucial in meeting the global goal of cutting methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, the report said.

At the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai many oil and gas companies pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. They also committed to reducing methane emissions and eliminating routine flaring by 2030.

The report also outlined a road map to tackle the increasing energy demands of AI-powered data centres, expected to almost double their share of global electricity consumption by 2026. It noted that, although AI's electricity usage remains relatively minor on a global scale, in certain regions, data centres can account for a significant portion of total power demand.

The International Energy Agency has predicted that the total electricity consumption of data centres could exceed 1,000 terawatt-hours by 2026, nearly matching the electricity usage of Japan.

“This new era calls on us to do two things at once: meet the AI moment while transitioning to a more sustainable economy,” said Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft.

“In a world that will need more electricity, not less, it's imperative that we generate more carbon-free energy to power AI, and use that very same technology to increase capacity, optimise transmission and expand energy access to communities around the world,” he added.