Artificial intelligence and other digital technologies could reduce environmental impacts in Europe in areas such as industry, energy, transport and consumer choices, but their own growing use is also pushing up demand for energy, water and raw materials.
Digital tools can improve how environmental data are collected and analysed, and can support more efficient industrial processes and “smarter” energy and transport systems, the , the European Environment Agency said in two new briefings published on 5 May.
The agency stated AI could influence what people buy by improving information about products and services, and could support more sustainable public and private procurement decisions.
AI can also be used to optimise supply chains and logistics “towards lower-resource outcomes” across value chains.
But the EEA said the spread of AI and digitalisation is reshaping how economies work, how consumption decisions are made and how value chains are organised, warning that changes without “clear policy direction” risk increasing energy and material demand and reinforcing resource-intensive business models.
Data centres’ footprint in focus
The rapid expansion of data centres is driving rising demand for energy, water and “critical raw materials” — materials needed for key technologies — the agency said, citing analysis in its briefing "Artificial intelligence and sustainable consumption in Europe."
Data centres, networks and devices together are creating a growing environmental footprint that efficiency gains alone are unlikely to offset, according to the EEA’s second briefing, "Navigating Europe’s twin transition — opportunities and challenges of digitalisation in the green transition."
The EEA stated its analysis comes as geopolitical competition, economic uncertainty and strategic dependencies rise, with digital technologies increasingly seen as central to Europe’s competitiveness and resilience.
The findings are relevant to EU rules including the Artificial Intelligence Act, which sets requirements for how AI systems are developed and used across the bloc.
