By Dr. Tim Sandle
October 3, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. — © AFP Sajjad HUSSAIN
Amid growing concerns about the environmental impact and long-term sustainability of technology firms’ global operations, a new review considers the electricity consumption of the world’s largest tech companies.
With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and the increasing energy demands of data centres, the technology industry’s power consumption is increasing. To put into perspective, the company BestBrokers has analysed the annual electricity consumption of the ten largest tech firms by market cap that publicly disclose such information.
The company next compared their power usage to that of entire countries, based on the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data. They also looked at what else could be powered with the energy these firms use in a single year, including AI operations.
The findings reveal that a total of 129 countries and territories each consume less power per year than Google alone, which used 25,307 gigawatt-hours in its last fiscal year. Among them is Libya, which uses around 25,000 gigawatt-hours annually with a population of over 7 million people.
For further context, Google consumed 56 times more electricity last year to keep its global operations running than ChatGPT uses annually to handle user prompts. This estimate is based on ChatGPT’s 200 million weekly active users each making about 15 queries per week, with each query consuming roughly 2.9 watt-hours of electricity. Furthermore, ChatGPT consumes around 453.6 GWh of electricity every year to handle 156.4 billion prompts
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Online businesses have been facing layoffs and even closures after Google’s upgrade caused catastrophic drops in traffic – Copyright AFP LOIC VENANCE
Samsung consumed 29,956 GWh of electricity across its global business sites in its last fiscal year. That’s nearly as much as the entire energy consumption of Ireland (5.2 million people) or Serbia (6.7 million people), each using around 31,000 GWh per year. Samsung also consumes more power than Ecuador (18.3 million people, 28,000 GWh) or Slovakia (5.6 million people, 26,000 GWh).
TSMC’s power consumption surpasses Azerbaijan’s yearly total of 24,000 gigawatt-hours, a nation of 10.7 million people. The energy needed by TSMC, the largest semiconductor maker in the world, reached 24,775 gigawatt-hours in 2023.
Microsoft’s power usage of 23,568 gigawatt-hours last year outpaced the entire electricity consumption of countries like Jordan (20,000 GWh, 11.2 million people), Iceland (19,000 GWh, 364 hundred people), Puerto Rico (18,000 GWh, 3 million people), or Croatia (17,000 GWh, 4.2 million people).
Facebook’s parent company Meta consumes 15,325 gigawatt-hours in 2023, more than Angola, Burma, Cuba, Sudan, or Zambia, each using roughly 15,000 gigawatt-hours annually.
China’s Tencent used 5,115 gigawatt-hours, about as much as Brunei (5,200 GWh, 491.9 hundred people). Tencent also exceeded the total electricity demands of Cyprus (5,000 GWh/year, 1.3 million people).
Apple consumed 3,487 gigawatt-hours in its last fiscal year, placing its energy needs on par with nations like Jamaica (3,400 GWh/year, 2.8 million people). The iPhone maker also required more electricity than countries like Montenegro (3,000 GWh/year, 599.8 hundred people) or Malta (2,800 GWh/year, 469.7 hundred people).
NVIDIA, with 613 gigawatt-hours of annual consumption, rivals countries such as Bermuda, Greenland, or the Seychelles (all of which use around 600 GWh per year).
ASML and Broadcom reported electricity usage of 480 and 417 gigawatt-hours respectively. This exceeds the annual energy demands of small island nations like Cabo Verde or Saint Lucia, each using 300 to 400 gigawatt-hours. Interestingly, ChatGPT consumes more power annually to generate responses than semiconductor giant Broadcom used for its global facilities in 2023.
Returning to the leader, Google, the firm consumed enough energy in its last fiscal year to charge 349.6 million electric vehicles or provide electricity to 2.4 million U.S. households for a full year. If Google were to use all of this electricity to mine Bitcoins, it could yield around 29,714 coins. On the AI front, the same amount of electricity could process 8.7 trillion ChatGPT prompts. For more details and the methodology behind our calculations, please check out the full report. You’re welcome to use any data or graphics, but please make sure to link back to the original work.
Samsung consumed 29,956 GWh of electricity across its global business sites in its last fiscal year. That’s nearly as much as the entire energy consumption of Ireland (5.2 million people) or Serbia (6.7 million people), each using around 31,000 GWh per year. Samsung also consumes more power than Ecuador (18.3 million people, 28,000 GWh) or Slovakia (5.6 million people, 26,000 GWh).
TSMC’s power consumption surpasses Azerbaijan’s yearly total of 24,000 gigawatt-hours, a nation of 10.7 million people. The energy needed by TSMC, the largest semiconductor maker in the world, reached 24,775 gigawatt-hours in 2023.
Microsoft’s power usage of 23,568 gigawatt-hours last year outpaced the entire electricity consumption of countries like Jordan (20,000 GWh, 11.2 million people), Iceland (19,000 GWh, 364 hundred people), Puerto Rico (18,000 GWh, 3 million people), or Croatia (17,000 GWh, 4.2 million people).
Facebook’s parent company Meta consumes 15,325 gigawatt-hours in 2023, more than Angola, Burma, Cuba, Sudan, or Zambia, each using roughly 15,000 gigawatt-hours annually.
China’s Tencent used 5,115 gigawatt-hours, about as much as Brunei (5,200 GWh, 491.9 hundred people). Tencent also exceeded the total electricity demands of Cyprus (5,000 GWh/year, 1.3 million people).
Apple consumed 3,487 gigawatt-hours in its last fiscal year, placing its energy needs on par with nations like Jamaica (3,400 GWh/year, 2.8 million people). The iPhone maker also required more electricity than countries like Montenegro (3,000 GWh/year, 599.8 hundred people) or Malta (2,800 GWh/year, 469.7 hundred people).
NVIDIA, with 613 gigawatt-hours of annual consumption, rivals countries such as Bermuda, Greenland, or the Seychelles (all of which use around 600 GWh per year).
ASML and Broadcom reported electricity usage of 480 and 417 gigawatt-hours respectively. This exceeds the annual energy demands of small island nations like Cabo Verde or Saint Lucia, each using 300 to 400 gigawatt-hours. Interestingly, ChatGPT consumes more power annually to generate responses than semiconductor giant Broadcom used for its global facilities in 2023.
Returning to the leader, Google, the firm consumed enough energy in its last fiscal year to charge 349.6 million electric vehicles or provide electricity to 2.4 million U.S. households for a full year. If Google were to use all of this electricity to mine Bitcoins, it could yield around 29,714 coins. On the AI front, the same amount of electricity could process 8.7 trillion ChatGPT prompts. For more details and the methodology behind our calculations, please check out the full report. You’re welcome to use any data or graphics, but please make sure to link back to the original work.
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