“Researchers have developed a new type of memory device that they say could reduce the energy consumption of artificial intelligence (AI) by at least [a factor of] 1,000,” reports Live Science:
Called computational random-access memory (CRAM), the new device performs computations directly within its memory cells, eliminating the need to transfer data across different parts of a computer.
In traditional computing, data constantly moves between the processor (where data is processed) and the memory (where data is stored) — in most computers this is the RAM module. This process is particularly energy-intensive in AI applications, which typically involve complex computations and massive amounts of data…
In a peer-reviewed study published July 25 in the journal npj Unconventional Computing, researchers demonstrated that CRAM could perform key AI tasks like scalar addition and matrix multiplication in 434 nanoseconds, using just 0.47 microjoules of energy. This is some 2,500 times less energy compared to conventional memory systems that have separate logic and memory components, the researchers said.
According to figures from the International Energy Agency, global energy consumption for AI could double from 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2022 to 1,000 TWh in 2026 — equivalent to Japan’s total electricity consumption.
Cutting energy use is critical because utilities have underestimated rising energy use in the years to come, resulting in big anticipated shortages of electricity in states like Virginia. Green activists claimed electricity needs and energy use would fall or remain constant, enabling fossil-fuel power plants to close. But instead, electricity demand is rising significantly, meaning that all existing power plants need to remain open to provide enough electricity, and new ones need to be built to meet rising demand.
A recurring debate in Virginia’s push toward a net-zero electric grid has been whether demand for electricity in the Old Dominion will grow or shrink. Citing expansion of demand from data centers and electric vehicles, Dominion Energy has contended for years that demand for electricity would continue increasing at a steady rate. Environmentalists scoffed, saying that conservation measures would enable Virginians to meet aggressive goals to phase out fossil fuel plants and rely heavily upon solar and wind…Dominion forecast a 1.4% annual increase in peak demand over the next 15 years.
“Actual electricity demand growth over the next several years will not come close to Dominion’s inflated 1.3% growth” as forecast in its 2017 IRP, wrote William Shobe, director of the Center for Economic Policy Studies at the University of Virginia. “Something like 0.5% to 0.7% is much more likely. And this is with data center demand.”
“It’s time for Dominion to change its model and assumptions to reflect reality—there is less load growth than predicted, and what load is coming to the Commonwealth comes from companies demanding renewable energy options,” said Will Cleveland with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
So, what’s the story nearly six years later? Here’s the headline from today’s Washington Post: “AI and the boom in clean-tech manufacturing are pushing America’s power grid to the brink. Utilities can’t keep up.”
Northern Virginia, says the Post, needs the equivalent of several large nuclear power plants to serve all the new data centers planned and under construction.
Far from overestimating energy demand, Dominion under-estimated it. Virginia’s major electric power company foresaw increased demand from data centers and electric vehicles, but it did not anticipate the crypto-mining revolution or the explosion of artificial intelligence, both of which require massive amounts of energy-intensive computer power. As far as Dominion’s environmentalist critics go, they totally screwed the pooch.
Writes the Post: “Utility projections for the amount of power [electric utilities] will need over the next five years have nearly doubled and are expected to grow, according to a review of regulatory filings by the research firm Grid Strategies.”…
Meanwhile, Virginia environmentalists are still fighting fossil fuels at every turn. This is literally insane (if by insane we mean disconnected from reality). As the U.S. digitizes and electrifies its economy, we need any kind of power source we can get our hands on….Given the long lead times to build new generating capacity, we must at the very least maintain existing fossil-fuel power sources.
