How Britain can sustainably advance High Performance Computing & AI
In May 2024, Britain joined the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) program, which brings together supercomputing resources from 35 countries, including Norway, Turkey and all 27 member states of the European Union (EU).
By participating in the prestigious programme, Britain aims to strengthen its scientific and technological leadership, promote international + and use HPC to drive innovation and economic growth – all of which are extremely positive ambitions for the UK IT industry. However, membership of the EuroHPC will also increase energy demand in Britain, and this could go even beyond the country’s current capabilities. Especially considering that Britain is still grappling with the formidable increase in energy demand due to the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The Chief Executive Officer of the UK National Grid, John Pettigrew, noted that AI will consume 500% more energy in Britain over the next decade. This is not just a problem for Britain, but this surge is quickly becoming a global problem. Data centers worldwide consumed 460 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2022, almost two percentage points of total global electricity demand. With the additional energy demand for AI, electricity consumption of data centers in the EU is expected to be 30 percent higher in 2026 than in 2023.
According to recent research from Goldman Sachs, AI will increase power demand in data centers by 160% by the end of the decade. This is not unexpected, as Google’s emissions have almost doubled in the past five years alone thanks to AI. These shocking figures raise questions about the possibility of net zero emissions by the end of this decade.
The key question remains: how can we meet this level of demand in a sustainable way?
Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of NexGen Cloud.
The biggest trends of our time
AI and climate change are two of the most important and impactful stories of our time, each profoundly shaping different aspects of society, the economy and the environment. They are far from mutually exclusive. AI will undoubtedly play a role in tackling the challenges of climate change. Still, the power needs of data centers will put pressure on net-zero targets.
Equal to the need for electricity, Britain also needs access to GPUs to become a leader in HPC and AI. But innovation must be sustainable to ensure that energy-intensive processes can be carried out with minimal impact on the environment and without threatening Britain’s energy security.
100% sustainable data centers
The only viable solution is to utilize renewable energy for data centers.
Energy efficient strategies at AI data centers must also be prioritized so that Britain can keep up without having to unplug due to power demands. Sourcing renewable energy for data centers poses several challenges, mainly revolving around the need for a consistent and reliable energy supply, high initial investment costs and the integration of renewable sources into existing infrastructure.
Some renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, are inherently intermittent, necessitating the development of efficient energy storage solutions and grid improvements to ensure a stable power supply. NexGen Cloud hosts its AI Supercloud in a data center just outside Oslo, which uses hydroelectric energy to power and cool its infrastructure. Hydropower energy is non-intermittent, allowing the data center to be supplied with clean energy 24 hours a day.
Investments and sovereign clouds
Market forces alone are not enough to get us there; direct investment in GPU chips by the UK government is also crucial for advancing the country’s HPC and AI industries.
Government investment in GPU infrastructure is critical as current funding significantly lags behind other global players. The British investment in Nvidia GPU chips pales in comparison to the orders from technology giants such as Elon Musk’s X and China. According to Pitchbook, US$122 billion has been invested in generative AI companies, while European generative AI companies have received a relatively modest US$3.8 billion. These types of differences hinder Britain’s ability to compete in the HPC and AI sectors, requiring a strong government commitment to scale up GPU availability and infrastructure investment to meet international standards.
Furthermore, adopting sovereign cloud solutions can help UK businesses gain access to high-performance GPUs while ensuring compliance with data protection laws, increasing Britain’s competitiveness in the global AI market.
Cloud infrastructure is available today to ensure that AI activities can remain compliant with European data sovereignty and privacy regulations by keeping them within European jurisdiction. By powering our data centers with 100% renewable energy, Britain and the EU can significantly mitigate the environmental impacts associated with High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence, allowing innovation to continue without the possibility of net-zero power by 2030 to endanger.
Essentially, this can provide both the blueprint for how Britain can sustainably support HPC and AI, and become a true global leader in these sectors.
We recommended the best green web hosting.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel, where we profile the best and brightest minds in today’s technology industry. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing, you can read more here:
