Data centers’ massive energy, water and land demands threaten climate goals
Data centers that run AI and online services use enough electricity, water and land to rank among the world’s biggest power consumers, creating significant environmental pressure.
A United Nations University analysis finds that if data centers were a nation, their electricity demand would rank 11th worldwide. The International Energy Agency projects that usage will double by 2030 to about 945 TWh, comparable to Japan’s annual consumption. In places like Frankfurt and Dublin, data centers already soak up 41% and twice that of local electricity respectively, while in the United States more than half run on fossil fuels, emitting over 105 million tons of CO₂.
Cooling requirements can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day, with Northern Virginia’s cluster using nearly 2 billion gallons in 2023, and the expelled heat raises nearby temperatures by up to 9 °C. Although renewable power and thermal-energy networks can mitigate impacts, they also compete with other decarbonisation needs, and new construction often converts agricultural land, as seen in Hattersheim, Germany.
Why it matters
The growing footprint of data centers intensifies energy, water and heat pressures, challenging global climate and resource goals.
In this story
