How an increase in self-driving cars could harm the environment

Autonomous cars will indirectly be responsible for high levels of CO2 emissions. — Photography Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock/AFP Relaxnews

Self-driving vehicles are expected to go mainstream in the near future, but mass numbers of such vehicles could result in a significant increase in CO2 emissions, mainly due to the energy needed for the computers managing all the hardware and software on board. By 2050, they could be comparable to the total emissions of all the data centers currently in operation throughout the world, according to a study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

This research determined that, in absolute terms, if a billion autonomous vehicles were to be on the road one day, each driving for just one hour a day with an on-board computer consuming the equivalent of 840 watts, the entire activity could generate as much CO2 emissions as all the data centers operating in the world. Currently data centers contribute about 0.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, or as much as a country like Argentina, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).