Sierra Club: AI data centers could lift US power-sector CO2 by 42% by 2030
The Sierra Club says AI data centers could push US power-sector CO2 emissions 42% above 2025 levels by 2030, erasing 15 years of progress.
Source: TRG Datacenters
The rapid build-out of artificial intelligence data centers in the United States could wipe out 15 years of progress on cutting greenhouse gases, according to an analysis by the Sierra Club, one of the country’s oldest conservation organizations.
By 2030, the group estimates, the spread of these facilities could drive carbon dioxide emissions from the US electricity sector 42% higher than in 2025. If every project already approved or under construction is completed, the new data centers would release about 460 million tonnes of CO2, comparable to Mexico’s annual emissions.
Eighteen months ago, researchers expected the impact to be two to four times smaller. The pace of construction has outstripped those forecasts.
To get around overloaded power grids, technology companies are turning to on-site gas plants. Amazon’s GW Ranch in Texas will run on its own plant of 35 gas turbines, permitted to emit up to 33 million tonnes of CO2 a year. SpaceXAI’s Colossus took the same route, and TeraFab, a joint SpaceX and Tesla factory, is set to follow.
The outcome is not settled. Residents’ groups and local officials across the country are fighting new sites over air pollution and noise, and some projects, such as Oracle’s Project Jupiter in New Mexico, are struggling.
Supply is another constraint. Global demand for gas turbines has overwhelmed manufacturers, prices have climbed 50%, and some order books are closed until 2032. SpaceX is considering building its own turbines to bypass the bottleneck.
