Data Centers are Being Powered By Giant Gas Plants, Possibly Increasing Carbon Pollution for Decades
Rather than racing toward their net-zero targets, Amazon and other AI/cloud computing companies "are driving emissions sharply higher," reports the Washington Post: To support their data centers, tech firms are driving construction of a new generation of supersized, gas-fired power plants that could lock in hundreds of millions of tons of climate pollution for decades to come, according to…
Amazon and other technology companies are inadvertently harming the environment by constructing gas-fired power plants to support their data centers, according to recent reports. This is causing a sharp increase in carbon emissions, potentially for decades into the future, despite the companies' claims of commitment to reducing their carbon footprint.
The tech sector may become one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, potentially five times greater than its current contribution by 2030. Amazon's carbon footprint has already grown to 80.85 million metric tons, more than double what it was when CEO Jeff Bezos pledged to shrink it. The companies argue that this surge in emissions is temporary, with new energy technologies expected to make data centers run cleaner in the future.
However, they continue investing in clean energy and claim their solar, wind, and geothermal installations offset some of their gas emissions through complex accounting maneuvers and carbon credit purchases. If nothing changes, data center emissions are projected to double to 643 million tons of CO2 annually between 2020 and 2030, with some projects expected to emit more carbon pollution than the dirtiest coal plant in the country.
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