Buch, Englisch, 81 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm
Why the Energy Is Well Spent
Buch, Englisch, 81 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm
Reihe: SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology
ISBN: 978-3-032-37306-9
Verlag: Springer
This book connects the dots between artificial intelligence, energy systems, and computing infrastructure, offering a fresh and systems-based perspective on one of the most important challenges of our time: sustainability in the age of AI. Rather than viewing AI as simply a new consumer of electricity, this book reframes it as a meta-technology —one that can drive system-wide optimization across energy, materials, logistics, and infrastructure.
Using a clear systems analysis approach, this book explores how these technologies interact, how data centers are evolving into active components of energy infrastructure, and how public policy, governance, and human decision-making shape outcomes. It goes beyond the usual focus on energy efficiency or technological hype, offering readers a deeper understanding of the causal relationships and strategic implications at play.
Essential reading for anyone involved in strategy, innovation, digital transformation, or sustainability, this book provides the tools to make sense of accelerating change and to act responsibly within it. It challenges assumptions, provides a practical framework for future thinking, and makes the case for deliberate, system-wide approaches to digital and ecological futures.
Zielgruppe
Professional/practitioner
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
- Technische Wissenschaften Bauingenieurwesen Bauingenieurwesen
- Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik
- Technische Wissenschaften Energietechnik | Elektrotechnik Energieverteilung, Stromnetze
- Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Klimawandel, Globale Erwärmung
- Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Informatik Künstliche Intelligenz
- Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Nachhaltigkeit
- Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Ökologie
Weitere Infos & Material
Introduction: Status Quo.- From Intelligent Decarbonisation to tofday, the AI era.- AI ? compute ? data centres ? electricity grids ? energy security ? policy.- Why rising energy use has triggered a backlash 4. Core thesis revisited: AI consumes energy, but delivers net sustainability gains.- Part I: Updating Intelligent Decarbonisation.- Why the optimisation problem has fundamentally changed.- Limits of efficiency-only strategies 3. AI scale-up, rebound effects, and system complexity.- Part II: Data Centres as System Infrastructure.- Data centres as critical energy-system components.- Grid impacts, congestion, and flexibility.- Policy and planning as enabling or constraining forces.- Part III: AI as a Meta-Technology.- AI as a system-wide optimisation layer.- Energy, materials, logistics, and infrastructure planning.- Training and compute aren’t consumption but long-term investments.- Already now, AI is assisting humans in solving large-scale problems.- Conclusions: Means to an End, not the End.- AI impact is snowballing, even the next 2 years are unpredictable.- AI impact will challenge governance and require accountability.- Human agency in an AI-optimised world will be critical & governance must support.- Outlook: Further Acceleration & Control.- Technology: AI and Quantum Computing Symbiosis.- Governance: Controlling the Uncontrollable.
