Power-hungry AI data centres seen driving demand for fossil fuels

[rangerrebew]

Apr 10, 2025
Energy, News
Power-hungry AI data centres seen driving demand for fossil fuels

Big Tech’s data centres are expected to use twice as much electricity by the end of the decade – mainly due to the global AI boom, the International Energy Agency says

An aerial photo is showing the Alibaba Zhejiang Cloud Computing Renhe Data Center in Hangzhou, China, on April 11, 2024. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto)
 
Surging artificial intelligence (AI) use will drive up demand for fossil fuels to power data centres, but widespread adoption of AI applications could reduce greenhouse gas emissions overall, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a new report.

Power-hungry data centres will consume as much electricity by 2030 as Japan uses today – more than double their current demand – largely as a result of the global AI rush, the Paris-based watchdog forecasted.

While renewable energy sources – combined with batteries – are expected to supply half of the additional electricity, increased demand from data centres will be a “significant” driver of growth for fossil gas and coal-fired generation until the end of this decade, the report said. The IEA forecasts that nuclear energy – through small modular reactors – will start playing a bigger role as a provider of stable electricity by 2035.

https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/04/10/power-hungry-ai-data-centres-seen-driving-demand-for-fossil-fuels/

[rangerrebew]

One thing I know for sure is the world's leader in green energy, China, will never stoop to using fossil fuels for their AI, even if they are building more electricity producing coal plants.

[mountaineer]

A fellow I know who works for a major natural gas company in our region said his employer will be building a dedicated gas power plant in Ohio just to power AI for Amazon.