Energy Supply Chains in the Age of AI: Growth, Risk, and Sustainability
Event description
- Academic events
- Free
Join us for a summer webinar series exploring how AI-driven demand for energy and other critical inputs is reshaping supply chains.
As AI accelerates, data centers are expanding at an unprecedented scale and becoming essential infrastructure for the global economy. In the U.S. alone, data center electricity demand is projected to grow from roughly 4–5% of total demand today to as much as 9–17% by 2030, according to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). This rapid growth raises major questions about energy systems, water use, supply chain resilience, environmental impacts, and the policies needed to manage AI-driven infrastructure expansion.
Our first webinar on Tuesday, June 9, will focus on the energy dimensions of data center growth and the broader systems challenges associated with powering the AI economy.
The session will feature:
- Dr. Gary Dirks, senior director of the Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University and former president of BP Asia-Pacific and BP China, will provide a systems-level perspective on the evolving global energy landscape and the geopolitical, sustainability, and resilience challenges associated with AI-driven electricity demand.
- Dr. Nidhi Santen, area manager in the Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group at EPRI, will discuss an end-to-end approach to grid planning for data centers that supports reliability, sustainability, and affordability amid rapid load growth.
- Brendon Baatz, energy market development at Google, will discuss the energy requirements of Google’s global data center network and the regulatory, market, and sustainability challenges associated with securing reliable power for AI infrastructure.
The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Kenneth Richards of Indiana University, an expert in environmental economics and environmental policy design.
Join us for a timely conversation on one of the most significant infrastructure and sustainability challenges emerging from the AI economy.
This series is sponsored by the Center for Responsible Supply Chain Management in the NASPO Department of Supply Chain Management at ASU’s W. P. Carey School and the Institute for Environmental and Social Sustainability at Indiana University’s Kelley School.
