At last week’s Climate Week and the Global Citizen Festival in New York, both committed to making the world a better and more livable place for future generations, technology was viewed by many as the driving force to shift to a cleaner, more sustainable future.

One of the more interesting events was held at the Midtown Accenture Innovation Hub, where industry leaders shared insights on digital innovation. The panelists discussed strategies and cutting-edge technologies transforming the global energy sector — from harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to redefining nuclear energy with small modular reactors, or SMRs. Here are the five key takeaways from that discussion:

1. Policymakers need a comprehensive strategy

Technology’s role in the energy sector is complex. Therefore, policymakers and industry leaders must have a clear strategy for integrating AI and other digital tools into the energy ecosystem. The Sustainable Technology Policy Guide, published by the Information Technology Industry Council, or ITI, provides recommendations covering a wide range of topics, including grid modernization, resource efficiency and the use of AI to optimize energy usage.

The guide is a roadmap for building a sustainable energy economy that leverages AI and other emerging technologies to modernize energy management, reduce dependence on limited resources, and prevent energy shortages or disruptions, even as demand grows or unexpected events occur. By following the recommendations, governments can collaborate to innovate and develop new technologies.

“The issues at the intersection of clean energy generation, distribution and how it’s used effectively require action from all parties,” said Gordon Bitko, executive vice president for public sector at ITI. “It’s critically important to recognize that this is a global issue. The strategic consequences of the ability or inability to cleanly provide and power these technologies can disrupt economic and national security, not only here in the U.S. and for allied countries but also in the developing world. It’s a hard problem that requires all hands.”

2. Innovation is reducing electricity consumption

The U.S. has made significant efficiency gains in electricity consumption over the past decade. Bitko shared an intriguing statistic: From 2007 to 2022, the country’s electricity usage remained virtually flat, even as the population grew by 10% and the economy nearly doubled. In other words, technology has helped reduce energy use while supporting economic growth.

Most attendees I talked to afterwards were surprised to hear this statistic, as much has been made of rising energy use. The reality is that though more progress is needed, we have made strides in efficiency to accomplish so much more than we ever have while holding the energy line steady.

A prime example is the data center industry. Over the 2010s, data center capacity expanded by 550%, yet it required only 6% more electricity. This was achieved through innovation in energy management, such as advanced cooling systems, AI-driven workload distribution and optimized hardware design. Hence, it’s important to focus on efficiency to prevent energy demand from rising as more digital devices and technologies are used.

“Innovation is driving change and addressing challenges,” said Bitko. “We all survived the pandemic because of innovation. We could work from home. We allowed our children to be remotely educated. We could do medical care through telehealth appointments because of those innovations in technology and data centers. We need to continue to unlock and enable this so we can all share the benefits of AI and clean energy.”

3. AI Is a double-edged sword for energy use

AI is helping companies and governments better manage energy resources and plan for future needs. A key innovation is digital twins, which are virtual copies of physical objects or systems. Companies use digital twins to test and improve energy systems without changing the real versions. In urban planning, they can create detailed models of entire cities, which help make more informed decisions about energy use, transportation networks, and infrastructure development.

Many cities worldwide are now using digital twins, created with augmented reality and virtual reality, to make their environments more efficient instead of doing actual construction. However, there are concerns that AI’s high energy usage could undermine sustainability efforts.

For example, training a single ChatGPT AI query can produce as much carbon dioxide as several flights between San Francisco and New York. To address these concerns, companies need explicit strategies to balance AI’s benefits with its environmental impact.

“We can’t think about this in a vacuum,” said Charlie Moskowitz, lead for tech policy for the Americas region at Accenture. “Organizations need a roadmap and guiding principles. The Green Software Foundation, co-founded by Accenture, has created principles that help lower the carbon footprint of software code. We’re putting our money where our mouth is.”

4. SMRs are shaping the future of energy

Emerging technologies such as SMRs and long-duration energy storage are becoming vital components of the “energy mix,” meaning different energy sources that meet a region’s energy needs. SMRs provide a flexible and scalable way to use nuclear power, making them suitable for various applications.

Meanwhile, long-duration energy storage helps solve the problem of inconsistent energy sources such as wind and solar by storing extra energy when production is low. These advancements are expected to maintain grid stability and renewable energy.

Microsoft Corp. plans to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear facility, which was once the site of a major nuclear incident in the 1970s. The reopening of Three Mile Island is part of a broader move that signals growing interest in nuclear power as a reliable energy source. Unlike in the past, when nuclear technology was less understood, significant advancements have been made in using new nuclear technologies like SMRs, which offer more flexibility and can be scaled up or down.

“It’s not 1950 anymore; we’ve learned much about nuclear power,” said Carla Frisch, acting executive director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Policy. “Here in the U.S., we have a lot of different types of facilities. We’re working with the private sector to try to speed up SMRs. We’ll see that at least in the next decade.”

5. Adoption requires collaboration and transparency

Broad adoption of sustainable technologies will require cooperation across industries and clear communication with consumers. Virtual power purchase agreements, or PPAs, allow multiple companies to pool their resources and jointly invest in renewable energy projects. By working together, companies can access sustainable energy options that might otherwise be out of reach.

“Virtual PPAs are becoming quite promising,” said Justin Murrill, senior manager of corporate sustainability at Advanced Micro Devices Inc. “To reach deeper into the supply chain or the value chain of other data centers, we have to bring together demand to make the economics work. The innovation of those virtual PPAs is now reaching a broader audience, and that’s critical for us to reach the next phases of the clean energy transition.”

Moreover, transparency around energy use and environmental impact is crucial. Providing consumers with easy-to-understand labels — similar to the Energy Star program for electronics — can empower them to make more informed choices. That’s why building a sustainable energy future will require a multifaceted approach that combines advanced technologies, policy frameworks and industrywide cooperation. With AI and other digital innovations at the forefront, a unique opportunity exists to reshape the existing energy landscape.

Looking ahead

Mary de Wysocki, Cisco Systems Inc.’s chief sustainability officer, observed a mindset shift within the sustainability community from understanding challenges to developing actionable strategies, suggesting a collective approach moving forward. According to de Wysocki, companies treat their sustainability goals with the same seriousness and accuracy as their financial reporting.

That means using strict standards and detailed data to back up their environmental claims, just as they would for financial statements. By doing this, companies build trust and transparency around their climate actions.

“Our partners are coming together and saying we have the same 2030 goal,” said Wysocki. “One of the things we’ve seen for all of us is enhancing our governance. So, when you hear a climate claim, it has the same rigor as our financial data. This is going to help our consumers, our partners, and our customers when we say something that they know is backed up. But also, when we continue shifting from voluntary to involuntary, we’ll be ready.”

Final note

The event’s focus was AI and sustainability, and I’d like to offer my commentary. There has been tremendous scrutiny of the impact of generative AI on power consumption. The panel discussed the use case where a ChatGPT has the same carbon impact as several plane flights. To help with that, Hope King from Axios, the moderator of one of the panels, suggested that apps should have some carbon indicators on them to help the user understand energy use.

In theory, that makes sense, but the reality is that one can’t measure the use of generative AI without comparing it with the alternative. For example, King quipped,” If I’m going to be Face-Tuning a photo, I want to know how many trees I’m killing by using AI.”

Though it might seem like FaceTune uses a lot of energy, it’s essential to understand the alternative. Without it, one might spend hours in PhotoShop editing the photo to do what generative AI can do in a few seconds. So, though gen AI does use more power than traditional search, it also accomplishes those tasks in a small fraction of the time.

AI in all forms is here to stay, and there are certainly implications for organizations’ sustainability goals. The wrong approach would be not using AI, as the benefits outweigh the negatives. With that being said, as de Wysoki pointed out, solving climate challenges requires a collaborative approach, as together we can do great things – which is why we all come together for Climate Week and Global Citizen every year. See you in 2025.

Zeus Kerravala is a principal analyst at ZK Research, a division of Kerravala Consulting. He wrote this article for SiliconANGLE.

Photo: Zeus Kerravala