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Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · Taiwan · 2023–2024

Greenpeace says AI chip production emissions rose to 453,600 tonnes by 2024

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Greenpeace East Asia reported that AI chip production emissions rose from 99,200 tonnes to 453,600 tonnes between 2023 and 2024. DatacenterDynamics reported that TSMC's Taiwan plants had an 11.4 percent renewable share in 2025.

What?
Greenpeace East Asia reported that AI chip production emissions rose from 99,200 tonnes to 453,600 tonnes between 2023 and 2024, and that Korea approved a 1 GW LNG plant for SK hynix. Greenpeace East Asia
Where?
Taiwan and South Korea DatacenterDynamics
When?
Emissions for 2023 to 2024 were reported in April 2025; the TSMC renewable share is given for 2025. Greenpeace East Asia
Who?
Gained
  • SK hynix — Korea approved a 1 GW LNG power plant for the company, according to Greenpeace East Asia Greenpeace East Asia
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Climate — AI chip production emissions rose to 453,600 tonnes, Greenpeace East Asia reported Greenpeace East Asia
Why?
Greenpeace East Asia links the emissions rise to the AI chip supply chain; the sources reviewed do not explain the rise further. Greenpeace East Asia
How?
Chip plants draw power from the Taiwan and Korea grids, and Greenpeace East Asia reports that Korea approved a 1 GW LNG plant for SK hynix. Greenpeace East Asia
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Greenpeace East Asia reported in April 2025 that AI chip production emissions rose from 99,200 tonnes in 2023 to 453,600 tonnes in 2024.

Greenpeace East Asia also reported that Korea approved a 1 GW LNG power plant for SK hynix.

DatacenterDynamics reported that TSMC's Taiwan plants had an 11.4 percent renewable share in 2025, against 20.1 percent company-wide, and that TSMC could account for 24 percent of Taiwan's electricity consumption by 2030.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: AI chip production emissions rose 4.6-fold in one year.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: TSMC describes its overseas sites as net zero.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Taiwan's chip plants run mainly on a fossil-fuel grid.
    • None on record The Greenpeace figures cover AI chip production broadly; the sources do not break them down by company.
    • None on record The sources do not state TSMC's total electricity use or total emissions.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Communities and civil society

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    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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