arXiv Machine Learning

A Water Efficiency Dataset for African Data Centers

arXiv:2412. 03716v3 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) computing and data centers consume large amounts of freshwater, both directly for cooling and indirectly for electricity generation.

arXiv AI
Jun 10

Accounting for AI Inference in Corporate GHG Inventories: A Four-Tier Methodology for Scope 3 Category 1 Reporting

arXiv:2606. 10660v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: AI inference services -- API subscriptions, enterprise chat tools, and SaaS products with embedded AI features -- fall unambiguously within Scope 3 Category 1 under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which requires disclosure for fiscal years starting January 2024.

By Guillermo Llopis (SOMA AI, Barcelona)
arXiv AI
2d ago

Beyond State-of-the-Art: Standardising Environmental Impact Metrics for AI Research

The paper highlights that as Large Language Models grow in capability and prevalence, their environmental footprint is increasing, yet the machine learning community lacks standardized carbon accounting practices. An automated review of 5,285 NeurIPS 2025 papers shows almost no reporting of environmental impact. To address this, the authors propose standardized sustainability metrics for training efficiency, heuristics for estimating inference carbon costs, a software tool called carbonbenchmark for tracking emissions, and the SMAJ framework to encourage prioritizing computational efficiency and environmental accountability over marginal accuracy gains.

By Lachlan McGinness, Dan Pagendam, Robert Offner
arXiv AI
Sep 4

Artificial Intelligence for Energy Optimization in Data Centers

The paper reviews 194 papers on using artificial intelligence to optimize data center energy use, coding 63 of them. It finds that most control studies validate only in simulation, none consider water withdrawal or embodied carbon, and savings estimates overlap across methods, preventing ranking. The authors propose CLEAR‑DC, a framework that links control and workload demand through elasticity, reports net benefits, and records energy, carbon, water, embodied share, and validation venue.

By Mohammed Basharath Ullah, Summaiya Unnisa Begum, Mohammed Nadeem Ullah
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 18

The Environmental Impacts of Language Model Training Keep Rising Now is the Time to Catch Impacts on the Rebound

The paper analyzes the environmental footprint of machine learning model training, focusing on large language models and their hardware. It finds that energy use and environmental impacts have risen exponentially over the past decade, even when employing carbon‑efficient electricity and more efficient hardware. The study argues that optimization strategies alone cannot curb these impacts due to a rebound effect, and stresses the need to evaluate hardware life‑cycle impacts and integrate environmental metrics into NLP research practices.

By Cl\'ement Morand (STL), Anne-Laure Ligozat (ENSIIE, LISN, STL), Aur\'elie N\'ev\'eol (STL, LISN)
arXiv AI
6d ago

Beyond the Last Truffula Tree: SustainAI - A Water-Aware, Closed-Loop Framework for Environmentally Accountable AI

SustainAI is a water‑aware, closed‑loop framework that embeds environmental accountability into AI deployment. It combines real‑time water metering, a hallucination‑aware penalty model, and a water‑aware routing algorithm that considers regional water stress. In tests with small language models, water footprints varied 11‑fold across data centers, and 1,335 inference runs consumed about 399 mL of water but yielded only 240 correct outputs, highlighting the resource cost of inaccurate responses.

By Farnaz Farid, Tashfia Towkee, Sania Nasreen, Sami bin Azad
arXiv AI
Jul 28

AIFL: A Global Daily Streamflow Forecasting Model Using a Deterministic LSTM Pre-trained on ERA5-Land and Fine-tuned on IFS

arXiv:2602. 16579v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Reliable global streamflow forecasting is essential for flood preparedness and water resource management, yet data-driven models often suffer from a performance gap when transitioning from historical reanalysis to operational forecast products.

By Maria Luisa Taccari, Kenza Tazi, Ois\'in M. Morrison, Andreas Grafberger, Juan Colonese, Corentin Carton de Wiart, Christel Prudhomme, Cinzia Mazzetti, Matthew Chantry, Florian Pappenberger
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 8

Life Cycle Assessment of Pre-training the Lucie 7B Open-Source Large Language Model on the Jean Zay Supercomputer

arXiv:2607. 05408v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The environmental impact of training large language models (LLMs) is increasingly scrutinised, yet most published estimates focus on operational energy and disclose little about manufacturing (embodied) emissions, water consumption, or the underlying highperformance computing (HPC) infrastructure.

By Marc L\'eobet, Pierre-Fran\c{c}ois Lavall\'ee, Jean-Pierre Lorr\'e