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THE GRID
SECTION 13
ISSUE 001
PROJECTIONpolicy6-12mconfidence / high
Disclose Compute’s Local Footprint
Projection: permits and major AI contracts will require location-specific disclosure of electricity, water, backup generation, hardware turnover, and community impact. Reporting should distinguish projected from measured use and allocate responsibility across model developers, cloud providers, and downstream customers.
Why this idea is here
What the evidence establishes.
IEA documents the energy–AI nexus and rapid capacity growth; the UN panel includes environmental and systems impacts in global governance.
Source ledger
Read the sources.
- S01Key Questions on Energy and AI
IEA report / dated 2026-04 / retrieved 2026-07-09
- S02Preliminary Report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI
UN scientific report / published 2026-07-01 / retrieved 2026-07-09