The trick: Lab Not Field
Texas AI emits 8.5 times more CO2 than Sweden.
That is a model of one example request, and the grid gap behind it is closer to 42 times.
the same AI request emits 8.5 times more CO2 in Texas than in Sweden.
Before you read on. Your call?
TRUE, BUT
42
Berget AI's own release calls it an estimate on average grid mixes. Sweden's 0.38 g is 89% hardware manufacturing, the two grids differ far more than the requests do, and the Texas row is a model setting, not a measured site. An earlier draft said ten times.
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The trick has a name
We call it Lab Not Field: it works in the test conditions, not the deployed ones. You'll see it again. Learn to spot it →
Receipts
- Supports berget.ai:
emits about 0.4 grams of CO₂ in Sweden, 1.6 grams in Ireland, 2.5 grams in Germany and 3.2 grams in Texas, on identical hardware
- Context berget.ai:
Estimates based on the average emissions intensity of each regional electricity grid
- Context berget.ai:
Sweden 0.38 g CO₂e (89% from hardware manufacturing). Texas 3.2 g (90% from electricity)
- Context berget.ai:
Energy about 4 Wh in both
- Context berget.ai:
stated 1.2 g (Ireland), 2.1 g (Germany) and 3.9 g (Texas) per request and a ten-fold difference between Texas and Sweden
- Context berget.ai:
Marginal estimates will be added to the calculator next month
- Refutes raw.githubusercontent.com:
running on Berget's 100% fossil-free infrastructure in Sweden
- Context raw.githubusercontent.com:
Because the Swedish grid is so clean, the embodied share of hardware manufacturing and supporting infrastructure is the dominant part of the remaining total (~89%).
- Refutes co2.berget.ai:
Cooling overhead (PUE) and water use are modeled from regional climate, not measured per-datacenter.
- Supports news.ycombinator.com:
The same AI request emits 8.5 times more CO2 in Texas than in Sweden
Open the Receipts Pack → What each source proves, every figure traced, and what would change our verdict.
