Renewable Energy Certificate as a Mitigation Strategy for Sustainable AI Data Centers Concept in Indonesia

¹ Faculty of Law, State University of Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia
² Fakulti Undang-Undang Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: citaserfiyani@unesa.ac.id

Abstract

AI data centers are a vital necessity that is inevitable in the era of AI development, which is growing very rapidly today, even though the aspects of technological development and environmental preservation are two sides that often cannot go hand in hand if not accompanied by a commitment to ecological conservation. The integration of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) into the management of AI data centers in Indonesia is a progressive idea but not easy to implement because it clashes with climate crisis issues, especially related to the use of clean drinking water that is used massively by data center operator companies everywhere, including in Indonesia, so that it has the potential to cause a clean water crisis if not balanced with the strengthening of government policies that involve the environment. A comparative study of the concept of sustainable AI data center management applied to Australia. This study recommends REC as a mandatory certification that AI data center operators must possess before being permitted to invest in AI data centers in Indonesia. The REC requirement mechanism includes the ability or commitment to provide energy sources other than clean water, which technological readiness or cooperation contract documents can prove.