AI’s potential on energy efficiency highlighted

Adnoc, Masdar and Microsoft have jointly published a new report titled “Powering Possible: AI and Energy for a Sustainable Future” exploring the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in driving the global energy sector towards a net zero future.

The report highlights AI’s potential to optimise energy efficiency, manage complex energy systems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and innovate carbon-free energy solutions while addressing the growing energy demands of AI technology itself.

To create the report, the authors surveyed more than 400 experts across the fields of energy, technology, AI, academia and finance, including Omar Al Alama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence; Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA; Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock; Professor Anima Anadkumar of Caltech; and Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies.

The survey revealed that 92 percent of energy executives believe AI will have a significant impact on improving energy efficiency by 2030, and that by 2050, 97 percent expect AI to play a central role in developing new energy solutions. These findings emphasise AI’s potential to decarbonise traditional energy sources, drive efficiency gains and accelerate the energy transition.

The report has been published in advance of the ENACT Majlis, convened by Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Chairman of Masdar, and Adnoc Managing Director and Group CEO. The ENACT Majlis is a CEO gathering of 60 world leaders in technology, energy and finance to seize the opportunities and find the solutions that embrace rapid and sustainable AI growth, to be held in Abu Dhabi on 3rd November.

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Chairman of Masdar and Adnoc Managing Director and Group CEO, said, “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. AI is an era-defining innovation that is altering the pace of change itself – resetting the boundaries of productivity and the possibilities of progress. But in doing so, it is also creating a power surge that nobody accounted for just 18 months ago. By collaborating to solve AI’s near-term challenges, we can also unlock AI’s long-term benefits across the energy value chain, helping to secure a sustainable and prosperous future for generations to come.”

The report highlights AI’s capacity to reduce methane emissions – a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide (CO2). Advanced AI tools being developed are anticipated to detect methane leaks with up to 20 percent greater accuracy compared to legacy technologies. These innovations are expected to play a vital role in helping the energy sector achieve the Global Methane Pledge, which aims for a 30 percent reduction in methane emissions by 2030.

Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft said, “This new era calls on us to do two things at once: meet the AI moment while transitioning to a more sustainable economy. 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, optimize transmission, and expand energy access to communities around the world. This isn’t a journey any of us can take alone. It requires working across technology, energy, science, and policy sectors to find solutions and accelerate our collective progress.”

The report also provides a roadmap to address AI-driven data centres’ rising energy demands, which are projected to nearly double their share of global electricity demand by 2026. The report highlights that while at a global scale AI’s electricity consumption is relatively small, in some regions, electricity demand for data centres can be a large percentage of total load. For example, according to the IEA, in the European Union, where data centre electricity demand is expected to increase at ~9 percent per year, demand could exceed 5 percent of the total regional load by 2026. Building on the significant progress already underway to bring more carbon-free energy online, the collaboration between the technology and energy sectors is crucial to ensuring that growing electricity demand is met through sustainable and carbon-free energy solutions.

Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy champion, highlights within the report the opportunity for AI to transform the global clean energy industry, as the data centres the industry requires will serve as an increasingly important driver of global energy demand, adding that to meet this demand sustainably will require a multifaceted approach to unleash the full potential of AI.

WAM