News roundup: Increasing power demands threaten Taiwan tech industry’s net zero bid, and other news

For PropertyGuru’s news roundup, Taiwan’s semiconductor companies need to be able to procure prodigious amounts of renewable energy at affordable prices. In other stories, the growth of AI has driven the demand for larger and more sophisticated data centres in Asia Pacific. Finally, all you need to know about getting a Dubai tourist visa.

How Taiwan’s green power deficit threatens tech industry’s bid for net zero

Since the 1980s, Taiwan has been the dominant force in semiconductor manufacturing, producing around 60 percent of the world’s chips. But chip manufacturing uses an immense amount of power. And the industry’s appetite for power is continuing to grow as more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips demand even greater amounts of electricity.

What’s more, the International Energy Agency estimates that data centres accounted for 2 percent of global electricity demand in 2022, a figure it expects to double by 2026.

Reuters reports that in 2020, Foxconn became the first major Taiwanese-headquartered electronics company to announce a net zero target. Semiconductor giant TSMC announced its own net zero commitment in 2021 and pledged last year to be 100 percent powered by renewable energy by 2040.

But it is one thing setting a net zero target. To deliver it, Taiwan’s semiconductor companies need to be able to procure prodigious amounts of renewable energy at affordable prices. And that is where the challenge lies.

APAC 2024 data centre investments to be fuelled by “insatiable demand”: analyst

The reliance on data centres for business, commerce and communication grows daily and the world’s largest real estate investors are increasing their investment – the total transaction volume of Asia Pacific data centre asset sales was at USD1.1 billion last year, with strong investor interest and a rebound projected in 2024.

The growth of AI has driven the demand for larger and more sophisticated data centres. More new entrants are expected in the Asia Pacific region due to this trend.

“Insatiable demand from major occupiers for data centre consumption, especially in the Cloud and AI sectors, has driven the growth of this asset class in the region,” said Dedi Iskandar, Head of Data Centre Solutions, Asia Pacific, CBRE, in Real Estate Asia.

All you need to know about Dubai tourist visas

Over the years, Dubai has strengthened its position as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. And it’s easy to guess why the city is popular with visitors. Not many places can rival attractions like the world’s tallest tower – Burj Khalifa, glitzy shopping malls, and artificial islands in Dubai. As a result, the number of people interested in getting a Dubai tourist visa grows yearly. Do you need a visa to travel to Dubai? Let MyBayut tell you all you need to know.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].