Nvidia’s director of accelerated computing, and a Penn expert in AI and datacenters, explain why AI uses so much energy, and how its energy appetite might be curbed.
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Artificial Intelligence is taking off. In just under two years since the introduction of Chat GPT, the first popular AI chatbot, the global number of AI bot users has grown to one and a half billion. Yet, for the U.S. electricity grid, AI’s dramatic growth could not have come at a more challenging time. AI is energy-intensive, and its expansion is putting additional strain on an already burdened grid that’s struggling to keep pace with rising electricity demand in many regions. In addition, AI’s energy demands complicate efforts to decarbonize the grid as more electricity – generated with a mixture of carbon-free and fossil fuels – is required to support its growth. 

The podcast explores the challenges AI presents to the power grid with Dion Harris, Director of Accelerated Computing at Nvidia, and Benjamin Lee, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Pennsylvania. The two explain how and why AI leads to increased electricity use and explore strategies to limit AI’s energy impact.

Dion Harris is director of accelerated computing at Nvidia.

Benjamin Lee is a professor of electrical and systems engineering, and of computer and information Science, at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a visiting researcher at Google’s Global Infrastructure Group.

Related Content
Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/ 
Plugging Carbon Leaks with the European Union’s New Policy https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/plugging-carbon-leaks-with-the-european-unions-new-policy/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Nvidia’s director of accelerated computing, and a Penn expert in AI and datacenters, explain why AI uses so much energy, and how its energy appetite might be curbed. --- Artificial Intelligence is taking off. In just under two years since the introduction of Chat GPT, the first popular AI chatbot, the global number of AI bot users has grown to one and a half billion. Yet, for the U.S. electricity grid, AI’s dramatic growth could not have come at a more challenging time. AI is energy-intensive, and its expansion is putting additional strain on an already burdened grid that’s struggling to keep pace with rising electricity demand in many regions. In addition, AI’s energy demands complicate efforts to decarbonize the grid as more electricity – generated with a mixture of carbon-free and fossil fuels – is required to support its growth. 
The podcast explores the challenges AI presents to the power grid with Dion Harris, Director of Accelerated Computing at Nvidia, and Benjamin Lee, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Pennsylvania. The two explain how and why AI leads to increased electricity use and explore strategies to limit AI’s energy impact.
Dion Harris is director of accelerated computing at Nvidia.
Benjamin Lee is a professor of electrical and systems engineering, and of computer and information Science, at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a visiting researcher at Google’s Global Infrastructure Group.
Related Content Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/  Plugging Carbon Leaks with the European Union’s New Policy https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/plugging-carbon-leaks-with-the-european-unions-new-policy/
Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Energy Policy Now offers clear talk on the policy issues that define our relationship to energy and its impact on society and the environment. The series is produced by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania and hosted by energy journalist Andy Stone. Join Andy in conversation with leaders from industry, government, and academia as they shed light on today's pressing energy policy debates.

Energy Policy Now

Energy Policy Now offers clear talk on the policy issues that define our relationship to energy and its impact on society and the environment. The series is produced by <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/">the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy</a> at the University of Pennsylvania and hosted by energy journalist Andy Stone. Join Andy in conversation with leaders from industry, government, and academia as they shed light on today's pressing energy policy debates.

Nvidia’s director of accelerated computing, and a UPenn expert in AI and datacenters, explain why AI uses so much energy, and how its energy appetite might be curbed.

Why AI Consumes So Much Energy - and What Might Be Done About It

Carnot Prize recipient Jacqueline Patterson explores how the clean energy transition can drive meaningful progress toward energy and climate justice.

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In 2009 Jacqueline Patterson became the founding director of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program. It was a role that Patterson, who’s this year’s recipient of the Kleinman Center’s Carnot Prize, had expected to be short lived: she’d stay on just long enough to get the program underway.

By the time she did move on 12 years later, she had made significant progress in raising understanding of the connection between environmental damage and the lived experience in some of this country’s most impoverished and vulnerable communities. As an advocate for climate justice, she has worked to address the fact that environmental damage increases the economic and health burdens on disadvantaged communities, and makes it more challenging to break the cycle of poverty and marginalization.

Today Patterson serves as the executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, where her work empowers communities of color on the front lines of climate change, ensuring they have the resources, tools, and leadership to amplify their voices in policymaking. Her efforts focus on making the clean energy transition a genuine opportunity for justice and equity.

Jacqueline Patterson is executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project and the 2024 recipient of the Kleinman Center’s Carnot Prize for distinguished contributions in the area of energy policy.

Related Content

Beyond Labor: The Expanding Scope of the Just Energy Transitionhttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/beyond-labor-the-expanding-scope-of-the-just-energy-transition/

Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/



Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Carnot Prize recipient Jacqueline Patterson explores how the clean energy transition can drive meaningful progress toward energy and climate justice.
---
In 2009 Jacqueline Patterson became the founding director of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program. It was a role that Patterson, who’s this year’s recipient of the Kleinman Center’s Carnot Prize, had expected to be short lived: she’d stay on just long enough to get the program underway.
By the time she did move on 12 years later, she had made significant progress in raising understanding of the connection between environmental damage and the lived experience in some of this country’s most impoverished and vulnerable communities. As an advocate for climate justice, she has worked to address the fact that environmental damage increases the economic and health burdens on disadvantaged communities, and makes it more challenging to break the cycle of poverty and marginalization.
Today Patterson serves as the executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, where her work empowers communities of color on the front lines of climate change, ensuring they have the resources, tools, and leadership to amplify their voices in policymaking. Her efforts focus on making the clean energy transition a genuine opportunity for justice and equity.
Jacqueline Patterson is executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project and the 2024 recipient of the Kleinman Center’s Carnot Prize for distinguished contributions in the area of energy policy.
Related Content
<a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/beyond-labor-the-expanding-scope-of-the-just-energy-transition/">Beyond Labor: The Expanding Scope of the Just Energy Transition</a> <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/beyond-labor-the-expanding-scope-of-the-just-energy-transition/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/beyond-labor-the-expanding-scope-of-the-just-energy-transition/</a>
<a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/">Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? </a> <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/</a>
 
Energy Policy Now is produced by <a href="http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/">The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy</a> at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit <a href="http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/">kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu</a>

2024 Carnot Prize winner Jacqui Patterson explores how the clean energy transition can drive meaningful progress toward energy and climate justice.

Empowering Communities for Climate and Energy Justice

Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the concept of a just energy transition, and why it must be expanded beyond its labor roots to address broad energy system injustices.

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The term “just transition” has its roots in organized labor movements, and has traditionally referred to the idea that workers in the fossil fuel economy must find security in the green energy economy of the future as well. Yet, increasingly, this understanding of what a just transition entails is viewed as overly narrow, and failing to address broad structural realities in our energy system that, if not addressed, will perpetuate a range of social, environmental, and economic inequalities.

This lack of a common definition extends to the highest levels of the global climate effort, with the United Nations acknowledging that the perception of what a just transition entails varies from country to country, potentially impacting the outcome of just transition efforts at the local level.

Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the definition of the term just transition and how varying interpretations of it might limit, or enhance efforts to address broader inequalities that are inherent in our energy system. Jenkins, who is a senior lecturer in energy, environment and society at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, also discusses the need to expand just transition beyond its labor roots to a broader view on justice, and explores policies to put this broader view into practice.

Kirsten Jenkins is a visiting scholar at the Kleinman Center and a senior lecturer in energy, environment, and society within the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

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Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocolhttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/

Climate Action in the Age of Great Power Rivalry: What Geopolitics Means for the Climatehttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-action-in-the-age-of-great-power-rivalry-what-geopolitics-means-for-the-climate/



Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the concept of a just energy transition, and why it must be expanded beyond its labor roots to address broad energy system injustices.
---
The term “just transition” has its roots in organized labor movements, and has traditionally referred to the idea that workers in the fossil fuel economy must find security in the green energy economy of the future as well. Yet, increasingly, this understanding of what a just transition entails is viewed as overly narrow, and failing to address broad structural realities in our energy system that, if not addressed, will perpetuate a range of social, environmental, and economic inequalities.
This lack of a common definition extends to the highest levels of the global climate effort, with the United Nations acknowledging that the perception of what a just transition entails varies from country to country, potentially impacting the outcome of just transition efforts at the local level.
Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the definition of the term just transition and how varying interpretations of it might limit, or enhance efforts to address broader inequalities that are inherent in our energy system. Jenkins, who is a senior lecturer in energy, environment and society at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, also discusses the need to expand just transition beyond its labor roots to a broader view on justice, and explores policies to put this broader view into practice.
Kirsten Jenkins is a visiting scholar at the Kleinman Center and a senior lecturer in energy, environment, and society within the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Related Content
<a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/">Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocol</a> <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/</a>
<a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-action-in-the-age-of-great-power-rivalry-what-geopolitics-means-for-the-climate/">Climate Action in the Age of Great Power Rivalry: What Geopolitics Means for the Climate</a> <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-action-in-the-age-of-great-power-rivalry-what-geopolitics-means-for-the-climate/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-action-in-the-age-of-great-power-rivalry-what-geopolitics-means-for-the-climate/</a>
 
 Energy Policy Now is produced by <a href="http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/">The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy</a> at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit <a href="http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/">kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu</a>

Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the concept of a just energy transition, and why it must be expanded beyond its labor roots to address broad energy system injustices.

Beyond Labor: The Expanding Scope of the Just Energy Transition

Virtual power plants can help electric grid operators address supply shortages and reliability concerns, but policy support is needed.

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The U.S. electrical grid is under growing stress, raising concern that recent widescale power outages may signal more grid challenges to come. In recent years, electricity demand has grown at an accelerating pace while, at the same time, power supply has tightened as existing power plants have retired and grid operators have struggled to bring new sources of power online.

Yet one promising solution to the grid’s challenges may already be in place, if grid operators and regulators can figure out how to use it to full advantage. ‘Virtual power plants’ can combine small, distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and demand response into a single, virtual whole that grid operators can deploy like a traditional powerplant. VPPs hold the promise of delivering large amounts of readily available and reliable energy services, if a number of regulatory and technological challenges can be overcome.

On the podcast Ryan Hledik, a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group, explores the potential of virtual power plants. He explains how VPPs work, discusses hurdles to their development, and considers policy solutions to speed their growth.

Ryan Hledik is a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group.

Related Content:

Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocol https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/

The Untapped Potential of “Repurposed Energy” https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-untapped-potential-of-repurposed-energy/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Virtual power plants can help electric grid operators address supply shortages and reliability concerns, but policy support is needed.
---
The U.S. electrical grid is under growing stress, raising concern that recent widescale power outages may signal more grid challenges to come. In recent years, electricity demand has grown at an accelerating pace while, at the same time, power supply has tightened as existing power plants have retired and grid operators have struggled to bring new sources of power online.
Yet one promising solution to the grid’s challenges may already be in place, if grid operators and regulators can figure out how to use it to full advantage. ‘Virtual power plants’ can combine small, distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and demand response into a single, virtual whole that grid operators can deploy like a traditional powerplant. VPPs hold the promise of delivering large amounts of readily available and reliable energy services, if a number of regulatory and technological challenges can be overcome.
On the podcast Ryan Hledik, a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group, explores the potential of virtual power plants. He explains how VPPs work, discusses hurdles to their development, and considers policy solutions to speed their growth.
Ryan Hledik is a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group.
Related Content:
Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocol <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/</a>
The Untapped Potential of “Repurposed Energy” <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-untapped-potential-of-repurposed-energy/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-untapped-potential-of-repurposed-energy/</a>
Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Virtual power plants can help electric grid operators address supply shortages and reliability concerns, but policy support is needed.

Why AI Consumes So Much Energy - and What Might Be Done About It

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