AI is power-hungry - that's exactly why it could accelerate the clean energy transition

clock • 4 min read

AI's energy demand could become the pressure point that finally forces action - unlocking the investment, infrastructure and reforms the clean energy transition has needed for years, writes Devorah West from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having a breakthrough year - but it's also triggering a major energy reckoning. Training large-scale AI models and running the high-performance computing infrastructure...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Infrastructure

'Essential piece of the puzzle': Heat network funding revamp could drive £17bn of investment by 2035

'Essential piece of the puzzle': Heat network funding revamp could drive £17bn of investment by 2035

Regulated Asset Base funding model and initial £1bn of public investment could mobilise a huge wave of private capital into heat network projects over coming decades, report claims

Stuart Stone
clock 20 August 2026 • 5 min read
Water bills set for further hike as Ofwat approves £3.4bn industry upgrade package

Water bills set for further hike as Ofwat approves £3.4bn industry upgrade package

Regulator gives provisional green light to package of infrastructure and service upgrade projects worth £3.4bn proposed by water suppliers across England and Wales

Michael Holder
clock 13 August 2026 • 4 min read
 Is Britain's grid connection system hindering the shift to greener industry?

Is Britain's grid connection system hindering the shift to greener industry?

Report warns lack of clarity on costs, timelines, and logistics for connecting factories to the power grid and is causing some firms to abandon electrification plans and remain reliant on fossil gas

clock 12 August 2026 • 8 min read