However, data centers are a major storyline for advanced economies like the US and many countries in Europe. As a group, these nations have largely seen flat or declining electricity demand for the last 15 years, in part because of efficiency improvements. Data centers are reversing that trend.
Take the US, for example. The IEA report points to other research showing that the 10 states hosting the most data center growth saw a 10% increase in electricity demand between 2019 and 2023. Demand in the other 40 states declined by about 3% over the same period.
One thing I don’t like reading in an article is percentages as a proxy for volume change. 10% increase in 10 states, means something very different if the 10 states include Vermont, South Dakota, and Nebraska relative to California, Texas, and Florida.
Another is that, while the article does touch on coal/gas as a climate emitter and does discuss how expanded capacity in Green and Nuclear are offsetting Chinese energy demands, it doesn’t give us any figures on actual anticipated growth in emissions by state or by volume.
The “America is using more electricity in their data centers” headline is shocking precisely because the US is so heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Also because the US has a much higher per-capita consumption rate than China or India. A 10% jump in consumption means significantly more in a country with 4.2 TWh of annual consumption (US) relative to one with 0.4 TWh (France). And the efficiency of use varies from 12.44 MWh/yr in the US to 6.6 MWh/yr in China to 1.36 MWh/yr in India. When air conditioning is increasingly an issue of survival in a climate change affected world, telling a bunch of New Delhi residents to quit using so much energy means something very different than telling it to a bunch of Wisconsinites.
Data Center consumption is an issue not simply because of the volume but of the perceived waste. Burning fossil fuels to accelerate your electric car / wind turbine industry is at least justifiable. Burning coal to keep hospitals and subway tunnels air conditioned is justifiable. Burning it to rapidly generate Shrimp Jesus memes on Facebook is not.
