Künstliche Intelligenz: Gaskraftwerke für KI-Rechenzentren könnten US-Energieemissionen um 20 Prozent steigern
Für viele US-Rechenzentren werden eigene Kraftwerke gebaut. Daran sind unter anderem lange Genehmigungsverfahren schuld. Die Klimaziele großer Konzerne geraten deshalb unter Druck.
In the United States, data centers are increasingly relying on their own gas power plants, which could increase the country's energy emissions by about 20 percent, even by a third when operating at full capacity, according to Bloomberg's data on 99 planned facilities. The analysis found these plants would emit roughly 318 million metric tons of CO2 annually.
The entire US power grid emitted 1485 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas last year, as reported by the Energy Information Administration. The ongoing boom of data centers, particularly for AI applications, is already straining the US power grid. Approved projects often wait years for a grid connection, leading some utilities to place moratoriums on permits.
Many operators are now building their own power plants, as they can be approved and constructed without approval from suppliers or independent utilities, since they are not directly connected to the grid. "There is immense pressure on the whole industry to secure power – and it has to be done quickly," said David Pomerantz, CEO of the Energy and Policy Institute, a non-governmental organization in the utilities sector. "They are largely indifferent to whether it is clean or dirty."
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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