Power hungry: Meeting our growing energy needs
Published: 04:03 PM,Mar 15,2025 | EDITED : 08:03 PM,Mar 15,2025
Power is life. It keeps our cities buzzing, our devices humming, and our digital existence afloat. And we’re using more of it than ever before.
A single Google search consumes about 0.3 watt-hours (Wh)—enough to power a 10-watt LED bulb for 30 seconds. With 1 billion searches per day, Google’s daily electricity use reaches 300 megawatt-hours (MWh).
In Oman, where the average per capita electricity consumption is 3.2 MWh per year (Enerdata, 2023), this means that Google’s daily search activity alone uses as much electricity as 34,220 Omani residents consume in a day.
Over a year, this equates to their entire annual electricity consumption, highlighting the immense energy footprint of digital activities even on a national scale.
Now let’s factor in the true giants of the digital world: data centers, cloud computing, AI, and cryptocurrencies. Together, they consume nearly 10% of global electricity, and that’s only expected to grow.
Data centers (including Google, Microsoft and Amazon) alone use around 250 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year, more than some entire nations like Australia or Spain. Furthermore, training language models like GPT-3 are energy-intensive.
Estimates suggest they consume approximately 1,287 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity - comparable to powering a mid-sized hospital for nearly a month or running an average data center for about five days; highlighting the significant energy footprint of AI training, which continues to grow as models become more complex.
At this rate, experts predict that by 2030, digital technology could be responsible for 20% of the world’s electricity use. Energy efficiency is improving, but as AI, automation, and the internet of things (IoT) expand, our hunger for power isn’t slowing down.
Here’s the kicker: The power we actually need is a fraction of the energy our planet receives every single hour from the sun with its roughly 173,000 terawatts (TW) of solar energy per hour - more than 10,000 times the world’s total energy consumption. If we covered just 0.2% of the Earth’s land surface with solar panels, we could meet all of global energy demand.
The good news? We’re making progress. Solar and wind energy are scaling fast, with renewables now accounting for over 30% of global electricity generation. But to keep up with growing demand and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, we need better storage, smarter grids, and serious investment in clean energy tech.
Oman has the potential to capture 5–7% of the world’s total solar energy potential with its high solar irradiance of 2,200–2,500 kWh/m² per year -among the best globally. With vast desert landscapes and over 300 sunny days annually, its solar capacity is 2–3 times higher than Germany’s.
If fully harnessed, Oman could generate far more solar electricity than its domestic needs, positioning itself as a key player in renewable energy exports.
The question isn’t whether we have enough energy—we absolutely do. The challenge is making sure our thirst for power doesn’t outpace our ability to harness it sustainably.
A single Google search consumes about 0.3 watt-hours (Wh)—enough to power a 10-watt LED bulb for 30 seconds. With 1 billion searches per day, Google’s daily electricity use reaches 300 megawatt-hours (MWh).
In Oman, where the average per capita electricity consumption is 3.2 MWh per year (Enerdata, 2023), this means that Google’s daily search activity alone uses as much electricity as 34,220 Omani residents consume in a day.
Over a year, this equates to their entire annual electricity consumption, highlighting the immense energy footprint of digital activities even on a national scale.
Now let’s factor in the true giants of the digital world: data centers, cloud computing, AI, and cryptocurrencies. Together, they consume nearly 10% of global electricity, and that’s only expected to grow.
Data centers (including Google, Microsoft and Amazon) alone use around 250 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year, more than some entire nations like Australia or Spain. Furthermore, training language models like GPT-3 are energy-intensive.
Estimates suggest they consume approximately 1,287 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity - comparable to powering a mid-sized hospital for nearly a month or running an average data center for about five days; highlighting the significant energy footprint of AI training, which continues to grow as models become more complex.
At this rate, experts predict that by 2030, digital technology could be responsible for 20% of the world’s electricity use. Energy efficiency is improving, but as AI, automation, and the internet of things (IoT) expand, our hunger for power isn’t slowing down.
Here’s the kicker: The power we actually need is a fraction of the energy our planet receives every single hour from the sun with its roughly 173,000 terawatts (TW) of solar energy per hour - more than 10,000 times the world’s total energy consumption. If we covered just 0.2% of the Earth’s land surface with solar panels, we could meet all of global energy demand.
The good news? We’re making progress. Solar and wind energy are scaling fast, with renewables now accounting for over 30% of global electricity generation. But to keep up with growing demand and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, we need better storage, smarter grids, and serious investment in clean energy tech.
Oman has the potential to capture 5–7% of the world’s total solar energy potential with its high solar irradiance of 2,200–2,500 kWh/m² per year -among the best globally. With vast desert landscapes and over 300 sunny days annually, its solar capacity is 2–3 times higher than Germany’s.
If fully harnessed, Oman could generate far more solar electricity than its domestic needs, positioning itself as a key player in renewable energy exports.
The question isn’t whether we have enough energy—we absolutely do. The challenge is making sure our thirst for power doesn’t outpace our ability to harness it sustainably.