AI Chip Plants' Emissions Soar Fourfold; Asia Relies on Dirty Fuels, Warns Greenpeace

W. Syaban

April 17, 2025

Greenpeace points out that numerous chances exist for direct investment in wind and solar energy projects; however, major semiconductor companies have not taken significant steps in this direction.

Last year, global emissions stemming from the electricity used in AI chip manufacturing saw a significant increase, largely due to the substantial use of fossil fuels in key production centers across Asia, as reported by Greenpeace East Asia.

The electricity used in producing AI chips surged over three-fold to approximately 984 gigawatt-hours (GWh). This led to a quadrupling of CO2 emissions to around 453,600 metric tons, according to a report released by Greenpeace on Thursday. The organization warned that significant environmental hazards related to both climate change and pollution could occur if major centers such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan continue using fossil fuels for their energy needs.

Co-author Katrin Wu stated that although fabless hardware firms such as Nvidia and AMD are benefiting immensely from the AI surge, they are overlooking the environmental effects of their production processes in East Asia. She added that the manufacturing of AI chips is being used to support increased fossil fuel infrastructure in places like Taiwan and South Korea—infrastructure which ought to instead utilize renewable energy resources.

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The demand for AI chips surged as ChatGPT initiated a transformation in AI services and ignited the growth of Chinese competitors, who focused on developing specialized processors adept at handling large-scale tasks such as machine learning. TheseAI chips outperform conventional central processing units in terms of speed and efficiency.

The worldwide semiconductor industry might expand by 15 percent this year, fueled by robust demand for sophisticated chips designed to manage artificial intelligence tasks, as reported by market research firm IDC. According to consulting company Bain & Co., the AI sector could be valued between $780 billion and $990 billion by 2027.

To capitalize on this growth, leading AI chip manufacturers such as Nvidia, Intel, and AMD are increasing investments in new facilities to boost their production capabilities. Although firms like TSMC have been constructing new sites in the U.S. to reduce the impact of tariffs, Deloitte predicts that the Asia-Pacific region will remain the biggest center for sophisticated chips, accounting for 60 percent of worldwide semiconductor manufacturing capacity by 2030.

Greenpeace stated that this could lead to a significant increase in worldwide electricity consumption, with power usage for global foundries jumping 170-fold from 2023 levels to reach 37,238 GWh by 2030. The organization also noted that nearly 60% of South Korea’s electricity came from fossil fuels, contrasting with approximately 70% in Japan and more than 80% in Taiwan.

Wu mentioned that Asian governments have kept using fossil fuels to generate electricity for their power stations, pointing out South Korea’s endorsement of a 1 GW liquefied natural gas cogeneration facility approved by semiconductor company SK Hynix.

"In East Asia, numerous chances abound for businesses to invest directly in wind and solar energies; however, manufacturers of chips have not seized these opportunities significantly," she noted further. Companies such as Nvidia and AMD, which focus solely on designing chips without manufacturing them, enjoyed substantial profits but ought not be permitted to “shift their emission outputs overseas virtually unmonitored.”

Greenpeace has called upon semiconductor manufacturers to achieve a 100% reliance on renewable energy by the year 2030. Additionally, they have encouraged technology firms such as Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Alphabet’s Google to enhance their initiatives aimed at decreasing emission levels within their respective supply chains.