The AI buildout's carbon bill could undo 15 years of power sector emissions cuts
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In a nutshell: Data centers have already drawn widespread resistance over their impact on electricity prices and water supplies, and estimates of how their energy use might affect carbon emissions have recently grown. Still, projections vary widely, owing to uncertainty over renewables and over how many data centers will actually be built in the next several years.
In a report obtained by Bloomberg, the environmental nonprofit Sierra Club estimates that planned US AI data centers would add 618 million metric tons to the power sector's carbon emissions between 2025 and 2030, a 42% increase. The figure would effectively reverse 15 years of greenhouse gas reductions from electricity generation.
Adding that much CO2 would bring the sector's 2030 emissions to 2.1 billion metric tons. The latest estimate of the AI buildout's effect is between...
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