| ▲ | keybits 10 hours ago | |
I enjoyed about your blog post, but I was curious about the claim in point 2 above. I asked Claude and it seems the claim is false: # Fact-Checking This Climate Impact Claim Let me break down this claim with actual data: ## The Numbers *US Air Conditioning:* - US A/C uses approximately *220-240 TWh/year* (2020 EIA data) - This represents about 6% of total US electricity consumption *Global Data Centers:* - Estimated *240-340 TWh/year globally* (IEA 2022 reports) - Some estimates go to 460 TWh including cryptocurrency *AI's Share:* - AI represents roughly *10-15%* of data center energy (IEA estimates this is growing rapidly) ## Verdict: *The claim is FALSE* The math doesn't support a 4:1 ratio. US A/C and global data centers use *roughly comparable* amounts of energy—somewhere between 1:1 and 1:1.5, not 4:1. The "40 times AI" conclusion would only work if the 4x premise were true. ## Important Caveats 1. *Measurement uncertainty*: Data center energy use is notoriously difficult to measure accurately 2. *Rapid growth*: AI energy use is growing much faster than A/C 3. *Geographic variation*: This compares one country's A/C to global data centers (apples to oranges) ## Reliable Sources - US EIA (Energy Information Administration) for A/C data - IEA (International Energy Agency) for data center estimates - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory studies The quote significantly overstates the disparity, though both are indeed major energy consumers. | ||