Former Obama energy secretary Steven Chu talks promises and pitfalls of AI and energy consumption

The National

22-11-2024

Former US energy secretary Steven Chu says that a spike extreme weather caused by climate change is increasing power outages, but that artificial intelligence can help better manage the transmission and distribution systems required by renewable energy to blunt the impact of outages. During a keynote speech in Abu Dhabi, he also said that although AI is increasing energy demand, there's the potential for researchers and tech experts to invent a new architecture to make AI more sustainable. "Already people are very motivated to decrease the energy consumption of AI in two ways, one is in the software, to make the machine learning more streamlined and give the queries less scope, and they're also trying to do things with hardware," Mr Chu told a packed auditorium on Wednesday at during a symposium hosted by Adia Lab, Abu Dhabi's independent institute dedicated to research in data and computer sciences. "If you look at Nvidia's website, you can see they're bragging about how low in terms of energy per unit for operation, the H100 is, it's about a kilowatt of power for one chip, but they claim it's very low compared to what it does for one chip," he explained, pointing out if those efficiencies would be eventually transferred to the hundreds of thousands of servers already in existence, a significant reduction of energy consumption could be possible. He also explained that AI can help utility companies and customers take more control over their energy production and consumption, potentially saving energy resources, money and energy. "If the customers knew that a particular utility is being strained at various moments, and it's costing the utility companies more money, and in turn, costing them more money, they might say 'I don't want to run my clothes washer at this time', but most people right now aren't aware when utility companies are under strain," he said, noting that smart appliances and AI might make it possible to assist with energy automation and customer knowledge. "Most people aren't aware what's really happening, but with smart appliances and a distributed form of AI can help, consumers could potentially sign up on a voluntary basis to share your energy load and the utility company could give you a lower bill," he said. Shortly after his keynote speech at the symposium which lasted just under one hour, Mr Chu also answered a question about president-elect Donald Trump's choice for energy secretary, Chris Wright, saying he believed Mr Wright will most likely push for the US to leave the Paris Climate Agreement that was signed by more than 190 countries. 'It's a totally different sea change, which is quite sad,' Mr Chu told The National. He also expects Mr Wright to slow down America's drive towards renewable energy sources and eliminate financial incentives for various climate initiatives. Mr Chu, a Physics Nobel laureate who serves as an advisory board member of Adia Lab, was speaking about sustainability in the context of artificial intelligence on Wednesday before being asked for his thoughts on the nomination of Mr Wright, a veteran oil executive who founded and has led Colorado-based Liberty Energy since 2011. 'You might think it's only four years,' Mr Chu said, referring to the presidential election cycles and how long Mr Wright might serve if confirmed by the US Senate. 'But remember, more than half the country voted for this person [Mr Trump] and a large fraction of the people don't want to spend money on climate change, and so we've got a problem in the United States.' Much like president-elect Trump, Mr Wright is a long-time supporter of oil and gas development who also expresses sceptisim on the global climate emergency. It's a sharp contrast from the tenure of Jennifer Granholm, the energy secretary in the Biden administration, who has pushed hard for renewable energy solutions such as wind, solar and nuclear, in addition to advocating a transition to electric vehicles. The energy policies of Mr Trump's second presidency are also expected to be a major departure from the tenure of Mr Chu under Barack Obama. Mr Chu has long championed increasing energy efficiency standards for buildings, homes and appliances throughout the US while also gradually reducing country's reliance on oil. That consistent push to reduce the US reliance on oil over the long haul, is perhaps the biggest difference between Mr Chu, who has a background in physics, and Mr Wright, whose founded a company that helped to grow the oil fracking industry. During an interview on sustainability and climate with the Nobel Prize organisation back in 2020, Mr Chu said that the sun was the most sustainable form of energy. 'The sun is the source of energy that creates the win, the sun evaporates water and creates rain and we have hydropower, and of course the sun allows us to have solar power,' he said. 'Fossil fuel was actually created by the sun, mostly plants that have long since lived, died and turned into fossil fuels, so virtually every form of energy is from the sun.' He then pivoted to discuss what he said were the downsides of fossil fuels. 'You can accumulate fossil fuels over tens of millions of and hundreds of millions of years and it all comes out in a few hundred years, there's going to be tragic consequences,' he said. Ultimately, it was Mr Chu's passion for solar power that led to one of his biggest criticisms during his time as energy secretary. During the Obama administration, a solar energy technology company, Solyndra, became the source of much controversy as it declared bankruptcy shortly after receiving more than $500 million in loans from the US government. Much of that criticism was levelled at Mr Chu, who pushed hard for renewable energy incentives and initiatives. Just days before the announcement of Mr Wright's nomination to energy secretary, Mr Trump also announced that he would nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Bergum to the position of secretary of the interior, a position tasked with preserving US public lands and parks, while also asking him to chair of a newly formed council of national energy. 'This council will oversee the path to US energy dominance by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the economy, and by focusing on innovation over long-standing, but totally unnecessary regulation,' president-elect Trump said. In a separate statement, Mr Trump said that both Mr Wright and Mr Bergum had known and worked with each other 'for years'. Mr Trump also added that his energy secretary nominee, if confirmed, would also serve as a member of the newly formed national energy council. 'I am honoured and grateful for the opportunity from Donald Trump to serve our country as US Secretary of Energy,' Mr Wright wrote on social media platform X. 'My dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure." Also on X, pinned to the top of his profile page, is a video of Mr Wright, which he described as the 'common sense energy leadership' he would bring to Washington. In the video, he criticises the NorthFace brand for refusing a personalised jacket order from an oil company, which wanted the apparel maker's logo on its corporate uniforms. 'I went through NorthFace's website of wide-ranging products, and I failed to find a single product that wasn't made from oil and gas,' he says in the video, implying hypocrisy from NorthFace. 'NorthFace is not only an extraordinary customer of the oil and gas industry, they're also a partner with the oil and gas industry. 'So thank you NorthFace, and you're welcome.'