Data centers are everywhere. Here's what they're doing to the planet.

Data centers are ubiquitous, and their environmental impact is significant. These massive warehouses of servers, routers, and Internet-connected devices consume enormous amounts of energy, water, and land to operate. For instance, a single large facility can use up to 5 million gallons of water daily, enough to supply a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people. An estimated 300 data centers in Northern Virginia handle about a third of the world's online traffic and collectively used nearly 2 billion gallons of water in 2023.

As the demand for data centers grows, so does their electricity consumption. In Frankfurt, Germany, the grid is so strained that new connections will not be available until at least the 2030s. Here, data centers consume about 41% of the city's electricity, while in Dublin, it's even higher at double that. By 2030, data center electricity consumption is expected to double to around 945 terawatt-hours, equivalent to what Japan consumes annually.

The energy used by these facilities often comes from non-renewable sources, contributing to higher carbon emissions. In the U.S., more than half of data centers are powered by fossil fuels, emitting over 105 million tons of CO2 annually. This reliance on fossil fuels is so significant that it necessitates the continued operation of 15 coal-fired plants, which emitted nearly 65 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2023 alone.

Data centers are also constructing new gas-fired power plants, with over 100 GW of additional facilities announced across the country, leading to even more carbon emissions. However, data centers can also be powered by renewable energy. Using green electricity can alleviate pressure on the local power supply and allow any surplus energy to be sold back to the grid, enhancing its stability. Yet, this shift could mean less available renewable energy for other high-emission industries, such as transportation.