Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Conversation
The Conversation
Joshua M. Pearce, John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation and Professor, Western University

‘Agrivoltaics’ can both power AI data centres and increase food production — new study

Soy grows between fences of photovoltaic solar panels at Western University in Ontario, Canada. (B. Kayla Coban)

Artificial intelligence (AI) use is exploding. More than 50 per cent of new internet content was generated by AI in 2025, according to an industry report. We even train AI on AI-generated content now and, although this can degrade performance, it continues at breakneck pace.

All this AI is consuming a lot of energy. It’s straining the electrical system, raising consumer electricity costs and breaking large-scale electrical grid planning. And the “AI energy crisis” is deepening. The International Energy Agency predicts that global electricity demand from data centres will double by 2030, to more than the electricity consumption of Japan today.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.