Report says national push for AI data centers leading to outsized energy, water consumption
A new report from the climate advocacy nonprofit Food and Water Watch says artificial intelligence data centers across the nation consume outsized amounts of energy, undermine progress toward adopting clean energy portfolios and threaten limited water supplies. The report, which was published Wednesday and is titled The Urgent Case Against Data Centers, calls the proliferation of these developments “one of the greatest environmental and social challenges of our generation.” The report finds that one hyperscale data center can use as much energy as 2 million U.S. households and warns that by 2028, data centers across the nation could collectively use as much water as 18.5 million households.
Other data center water use news:
- KGUN (Tucson, Ariz.): City of Tucson considers new zoning rules for large-scale data centers amid water and energy concerns
- Source New Mexico: A secretive ad campaign calls on New Mexicans to support controversial Project Jupiter data center
- Boulder Daily Camera (Colo.): Opinion: The push for more data centers, more housing and more impacts
