Latest news with #carbonEmissions
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
Why Some AI Models Spew 50 Times More Greenhouse Gas to Answer the Same Question
Like it or not, large language models have quickly become embedded into our lives. And due to their intense energy and water needs, they might also be causing us to spiral even faster into climate chaos. Some LLMs, though, might be releasing more planet-warming pollution than others, a new study finds. Queries made to some models generate up to 50 times more carbon emissions than others, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Communication. Unfortunately, and perhaps unsurprisingly, models that are more accurate tend to have the biggest energy costs. It's hard to estimate just how bad LLMs are for the environment, but some studies have suggested that training ChatGPT used up to 30 times more energy than the average American uses in a year. What isn't known is whether some models have steeper energy costs than their peers as they're answering questions. Researchers from the Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences in Germany evaluated 14 LLMs ranging from 7 to 72 billion parameters—the levers and dials that fine-tune a model's understanding and language generation—on 1,000 benchmark questions about various subjects. LLMs convert each word or parts of words in a prompt into a string of numbers called a token. Some LLMs, particularly reasoning LLMs, also insert special 'thinking tokens' into the input sequence to allow for additional internal computation and reasoning before generating output. This conversion and the subsequent computations that the LLM performs on the tokens use energy and releases CO2. The scientists compared the number of tokens generated by each of the models they tested. Reasoning models, on average, created 543.5 thinking tokens per question, whereas concise models required just 37.7 tokens per question, the study found. In the ChatGPT world, for example, GPT-3.5 is a concise model, whereas GPT-4o is a reasoning model. This reasoning process drives up energy needs, the authors found. 'The environmental impact of questioning trained LLMs is strongly determined by their reasoning approach,' study author Maximilian Dauner, a researcher at Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences, said in a statement. 'We found that reasoning-enabled models produced up to 50 times more CO2 emissions than concise response models.' The more accurate the models were, the more carbon emissions they produced, the study found. The reasoning model Cogito, which has 70 billion parameters, reached up to 84.9% accuracy—but it also produced three times more CO2 emissions than similarly sized models that generate more concise answers. 'Currently, we see a clear accuracy-sustainability trade-off inherent in LLM technologies,' said Dauner. 'None of the models that kept emissions below 500 grams of CO2 equivalent achieved higher than 80% accuracy on answering the 1,000 questions correctly.' CO2 equivalent is the unit used to measure the climate impact of various greenhouse gases. Another factor was subject matter. Questions that required detailed or complex reasoning, for example abstract algebra or philosophy, led to up to six times higher emissions than more straightforward subjects, according to the study. There are some caveats, though. Emissions are very dependent on how local energy grids are structured and the models that you examine, so it's unclear how generalizable these findings are. Still, the study authors said they hope that the work will encourage people to be 'selective and thoughtful' about the LLM use. 'Users can significantly reduce emissions by prompting AI to generate concise answers or limiting the use of high-capacity models to tasks that genuinely require that power,' Dauner said in a statement.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Revealed: the astonishing greenhouse gas emissions that will result from the North West Shelf project
Woodside's North West Shelf gas project on the Burrup peninsula in Western Australia is one of the world's largest liquified natural gas ventures. In May the Labor government approved an extension for the project to run for an additional 40 years, from 2030 to 2070. The extension is expected to be responsible for about 87.9m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent every year in the decades ahead, after the gas has been exported and burned, according to Woodside's own numbers. Despite the North West Shelf contributing 'almost nothing' in terms of Australian tax dollars, it will be responsible for emissions greater than dozens of countries and many of the world's biggest companies. It can be hard to get your head around numbers this big. This chart represents 87.9m tonnes of emissions (measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO2-e). Each square is 500 tonnes, which is about what you would emit if you drove around Australia 125 times in an average car (which we define below the chart). Notes and methods: North West Shelf project extension emissions are scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions set out in the EPA application Qantas domestic emissions are scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2023-24 as reported to the Clean Energy Regulator Australian total agriculture emissions are the sum of agricultural emissions in the December 2024 National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Emissions from all Australian gas plants derived from the primary fuel type in the 2023-24 electricity sector emissions data Switzerland and Ireland total 2023 emissions sourced from Our World in Data Apple's emissions based on information from its 2024 environmental progress report, with more information about why renewable energy certificates and offsets are excluded here Driving around Australia emissions estimated for doing the M1 'big lap' with a fuel consumption of 6.9L/100km
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Most new build homes must be fitted with solar panels
Builders will be required to fit solar panels to the "vast majority" of new build homes in England under changes to be published this year, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has regulations will require developers to add panels unless the buildings fall under certain exemptions such as being covered by to the BBC, Miliband said the move was "just common sense" adding that solar panels would save the typical household £500 a year on their energy Home Builders Federation said it backed fitting more panels but cautioned against introducing "burdensome" paperwork which it said could harm government efforts to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029. The rules will be included in the Future Homes Standard, which will detail a wider plan for improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. The government says it will be published in autumn but there will be a transitional period for developers to adjust to the regulation changes. Current building regulations do not compel developers to add solar panels to new last Conservative government consulted on new regulations including a proposal that new build homes should have rooftop solar panels covering the equivalent of 40% of the building's ground they were voted out of power before their proposed changes could be implemented. The Labour government is now promising to introduce rules which would mandate developers to add solar panels to all new if the government would stick to the 40% figure proposed by the previous Conservative government, Miliband said the details would be set out in the autumn."The problem about the previous system was that it said you would had to have a certain percentage of coverage of solar panels but if you couldn't achieve that percentage you didn't have to do anything at all."Under our plans, we are not going to say that. We are going to say even if you can't hit 40% you will still have to have some solar panels, except in rare exceptional cases."Miliband said the number of homes with solar panels had to be "much, much higher" adding: "It's got to be almost universal."Asked if he worried developers would pass the cost of adding solar panels on to buyers, Miliband said he didn't think there would be an effect on house Jefferson, head of the Home Builders Federation, said an estimated two in five new homes had solar panels and that the industry was "getting increasingly used to incorporating solar panels within the building of new homes". "The government just needs to take care to make sure that it does not prescribe and mandate to much on rooftops.""If every single home needs to be applied for on an exemption basis that will slow up the delivery of desperately-needed new homes, that administration will be burdensome."Chris Hewitt, from the trade body Solar Energy UK, said local authorities would have to be "vigilant" to ensure developers were meeting their obligations but added that it would be "quite easy to enforce". He also said he did not expect many homes to be exempt, estimating that 90% of new build homes would have to comply with the new rules. Asked if the sector had the skills to keep up with demand, Mr Hewitt said: "We are certainly aware that we need to train more people... that's something we as an industry are working on."The announcement comes a week after the government ditched a planning rule in order to make it easier for people to install heat pumps in their homes. Increasing solar power is one way the government hopes to reduce the country's carbon emissions. The UK is legally committed to reaching its net zero target by 2050, meaning the UK must cut carbon emissions until it removes as much as it produces, in line with the 2015 Paris Climate 2022, emissions from residential buildings made up 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in the government's advisory body, the Climate Change Committee, has said the UK will not be able to meet its targets "without near complete decarbonisation of the housing stock". According to analysis by Carbon Brief, power generated by solar sites in the UK hit record highs this year, partly driven by particularly sunny weather. Between January and May, the level was 42% higher than the same period in 2024 and marked a 160% increase over the last decade. However, solar power remains the UK's sixth largest source of electricity, behind gas, wind, imports, nuclear and biomass. The net-zero goal was set by the previous Conservative government and retained by Labour. However, recently Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said the target is "impossible" to achieve "without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us". Reform UK have called for the target to be scrapped entirely, arguing it has led to higher energy bills, while the Greens and Liberal Democrats want the government to hit the target faster.
Bloomberg
05-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trump's Tax Bill Would Dampen, But Not Quash, the Clean Energy Buildout
By and Amanda Kolson Hurley Save The current version of President Donald Trump's centerpiece tax and spending bill would winnow the amount of renewable energy capacity the US adds over the next decade, according to a report released Wednesday by BloombergNEF. Wind, solar and storage capacity overall would drop by 10% by 2035 relative to a baseline scenario, the research firm finds. The bill would also result in 3.8 million more tons of carbon emissions from the country's power sector by 2050.
RNZ News
04-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Sustainable burial options for a greener goodbye
Many of us feel the pressure to be more eco-friendly and sustainable in the way we live, but what about when we or our loved ones die? Six million kilos of Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere every year from cremations in New Zealand, while for every burial about 40 kilograms is emitted. But as well as carbon emissions, there is also the issue with space, as many cemeteries and urupa are running out of room or at capacity. Louise Ternouth took a look at what more sustainable burial options are available. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
