Overview
- The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health published a report on June 3 that quantifies 2025 baselines and projects roughly doubled footprints for data centers by 2030.
- The study finds 2025 data‑center use at about 448 TWh of electricity, 4.5 trillion litres of water and 189 million tonnes of CO2 and projects those numbers to rise to roughly 945 TWh, 9.3 trillion litres of water and 399 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030.
- Researchers say roughly 20% of 2025 data‑center electricity use came from AI workloads and that AI could account for about 40% by 2030 with about 90% of AI energy spent on day‑to‑day inference rather than one‑off training.
- The report warns that measuring sustainability by carbon alone misses trade‑offs because low‑carbon choices such as some renewables or bioenergy can greatly increase water use or land demand, shifting burdens onto communities.
- The findings have already prompted government and local reviews, some permitting pauses and calls for integrated energy, water and land planning, greater transparency from operators and early community engagement to avoid locking in harms.