arXiv cs.CY· Daria Onitiu, Sandra Wachter, Brent Mittelstadt·· 13 小时前AI 评分31
可持续生成式 AI 的谬误：欧盟数据中心环境监管的局限与改进路径
The Fallacy of Sustainable Generative AI: Limitations in EU Environmental Regulation of Data Centres and Paths Forward
AI 导读
论文指出，欧盟重订版《能源效率指令》（recast EED）采用的 PUE 与 WUE 两项基准可被扭曲，制造虚假的能效提升印象，形成所谓"效率悖论"——高分往往靠扩建更大的 AI 数据中心换来，代价是电力供应与居民用水。作者提出三项政策建议：认证真实能效改进、记录 PUE 与 WUE 提升中的权衡、建立对其递减收益与反效果的长期监测框架。
正文 · 原文
Abstract:In the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Large Language Models, Generative AI and larger frontier AI models, data centres create a significant environmental burden on electricity grids and fresh water resources. Requiring data centre operators and Big Tech under the recast Energy Efficiency Directive (recast EED) to quantify, report and disclose the facility-level energy and water impacts seems to be a step into the right direction towards more transparency and accountability. Yet when two recast EED approved benchmarks - the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) - can be skewed to create a false sense on efficiency gains, current EU policy pushing for sustainable hyperscale data centre expansion appears misplaced. This paper argues that current PUE and WUE reporting frameworks illustrate what we term the "efficiency paradox," according to which positive scores require retrofitting larger AI data centres at the expense of energy supply and people's water access. Countering this efficiency paradox requires a new strategy for data centre operators and the EU Commission to demonstrate the ecological gains of optimising for efficiency through individual reporting and additional policy interventions. We make three policy proposals to show how this strategy can be formalised in practice: (i) measures to reveal and certify efficiency improvements, (ii) documentation of trade-offs in PUE and WUE improvements and, (iii) a monitoring framework of their diminishing returns and countereffects over time. Implementing these measures will ensure that the recast EED common rating scheme is fit-for-purpose, balancing sustainability with AI innovation for local communities.
| Subjects: | Computers and Society (cs.CY) |
| Cite as: | arXiv:2607.22604 [cs.CY] |
| (or arXiv:2607.22604v2 [cs.CY] for this version) | |
| https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2607.22604 arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite |
Submission history
From: Brent Mittelstadt [view email]
[v1]
Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:30:21 UTC (497 KB)
[v2]
Thu, 22 Oct 2026 10:47:55 UTC (520 KB)
来源：arXiv cs.CY · arxiv.org