Data Crunch: How the AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals

Released by the Center for Biological Diversity, Data Crunch quantifies the GHG emissions of the projected AI data center buildout in the U.S. A massive expansion of data centers, set to be powered primarily by fracked gas, could account for 10% of the economy-wide emissions and 44% of the power sector emissions allowable to meet the U.S. 2035 climate target, known as the nationally determined contribution, or NDC. Data centers are projected to account for more than 12% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2030.