Tech sector's energy transition draws attention at Vegas show

With its focus on innovative products and cutting-edge technology, the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has not historically paid much attention to energy companies.

But there were signs of a shift at this year's Las Vegas event, as the tech sector begins to confront its substantial energy needs, which are certain to grow as cloud computing and artificial intelligence advance.

"If you'd asked me to do CES five years ago, I wouldn't necessarily have seen the point," said Sebastien Fiedorow, chief executive of the French start-up Aerleum, which manufactures synthetic fuel from carbon dioxide (C02).

"But we are in a very different CES than five years ago," he told AFP, adding that even if energy companies remain "on the fringes" of CES, "we're here."

"It's a good first opportunity," he added.

Data centers accounted for 4.4 percent of US electricity needs in 2023, a figure that is likely to rise to 12 percent by 2028, according to the US Department of Energy.

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Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Technology Association, which organizes CES, said energy transition was intended to be "a big focus" of this year's show.

"It's something we've talked about for awhile," he added, stressing that the tech sector needs "innovative solutions" to ensure it has the power it requires moving forward.

'Not the most sexy'

Among the companies pitching such innovation at CES, which wrapped up on Friday, was the Dutch firm LV Energy, which generates electricity from sound and vibrations.

General director Satish Jawalapersad said the company's presence at the show was noteworthy.

"The fact that we're here with the CES does say something, definitely," he told AFP.

But LV Energy didn't mention artificial intelligence in its presentation, which he said likely suppressed interest, with AI being "the magic word," at CES.

"Maybe we're not the most sexy... because we don't say those words," he told AFP.

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Other energy firms also acknowledged a struggle to break through.

DataGreen, another French company, aims to build smaller, greener data centers that run on renewable power, saving tech companies money by reducing data storage costs.

Cloud computing giants have so far shown no interest, said DataGreen's head of AI, Julien Choukroun.

"For now, they don't see the point (in partnering with DataGreen) but we're trying to convince them," Choukroun said.

The company won an innovation award at CES this year, its first appearance at the show, and Choukroun argued its services are essential.

"We can't continue to increase the hangar space (of data centers)," he said, stressing the land available to house sprawling storage sites "is not infinite."

He voiced confidence that once Big Tech realizes DataGreen offers cost savings, that will "be more persuasive than the 'green'" aspect.

Changing mindsets

Jordan Huyghe, product manager at the French company Otrera, which designs small nuclear reactors, said a major change in the relationship between tech and the energy sector will require investment from giants like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

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Amazon is already the world's largest purchaser of renewable energy.

In September, Microsoft signed a deal with Constellation Energy to reopen the Three Mile Island power plant in the US state of Pennsylvania, the scene of a devastating nuclear meltdown in 1979.

Energy from the plant will power Microsoft data centers.

Solutions, Huyghe said, can come from companies big enough to fund them.

"To move forward on projects like these, you need to raise money," he said.

While interest remains muted for smaller players, Jawalapersad of LV Energy said his company has "numerous leads" in the United States.

Fiedorow of Aerleum said there was no doubt the tech sector's focus on energy is growing.

"We produce fuel and work on a technology that is pretty far removed from the focus of the Consumer Electronics Show," he said.

Aerleum's presence in Las Vegas "shows that the mindset is changing."

Source: AFP