Gas power projects for just 11 US data center ‘campuses’ could emit more greenhouse gases than entire countries, according to report
According to a report examined by Wired, 11 US data center “campuses” powered by newly planned natural gas projects could collectively emit more greenhouse gases than entire countries. This finding highlights a significant environmental concern as the data center industry continues to expand rapidly across the United States.
While nuclear energy is frequently presented as the potential “clean” solution for powering the growing number of data centers currently under construction, the reality differs substantially. Many projects resort to using natural gas and other less sustainable energy sources to fill the gap when renewable or nuclear alternatives prove unavailable, delayed, or economically unfeasible.
Wired’s investigation involved examining air permits for several new natural gas projects, documenting the infrastructure being built to support data center expansion. The implications are sobering: if just 11 data center campuses could rival entire countries in greenhouse gas emissions, the cumulative environmental impact across all US data centers warrants serious policy attention.
This situation reflects a broader tension within the tech industry: as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital services demand increasingly massive amounts of computational power, the infrastructure required often relies on fossil fuels rather than clean energy. The gap between companies’ public sustainability commitments and the reality of how their data centers are powered remains a critical issue.