The rapid expansion of data centers could strain Europe’s power systems, threatening its climate goals, according to a new report by a nonprofit based in Germany.
The data center boom is leading to a surge in power demand, posing a serious risk of escalating greenhouse gas emissions by expanding gas infrastructure or forcing other industries to rely on fossil fuels, Beyond Fossil Fuels said in a statement.
Beyond Fossil Fuels is a coalition of civil society organizations striving for a just transition to a fossil-free, fully renewables-based European power sector by 2035.
The study comes as government and tech leaders gather in Paris for the two-day artificial intelligence (AI) summit on Monday.
The report estimates that data center electricity demand in Europe could rise by up to 160% by 2030, reaching 287 terawatt-hours, surpassing Spain’s total power consumption in 2022.
The study also examines how emissions vary depending on whether this demand is met through fossil fuels or by expanding renewable energy capacity.
The report estimates the growth in electricity demand from new data centers and resulting emissions under two different hypotheses of energy sourcing, considering both low and high energy demand.
Powering new data centers with fossil gas would ‘have detrimental consequences for people and the climate,’ the data revealed.
By 2030, annual emissions of these newly added data centers could reach 39 million tons of CO2, exceeding the combined emissions of Lithuania and Estonia in 2022.
Over the next 6 years, new data centers could emit a cumulative 121 million tons of CO2 equivalent, a figure equal to half of Germany’s planned 2030 emissions cuts across all sectors.
‘The extra demand for electricity from data centers must be met with renewable energy—not fossil fuels—to avoid exacerbating the climate crisis,’ it added.
The report said that if new data centers consume renewable energy already allocated to other sectors, it could hinder those industries’ decarbonization efforts, leading to higher emissions.
Commenting on the report, Jill McArdle, an international corporate campaigner at Beyond Fossil Fuels, said that new data centers pose a real challenge to Europe’s climate goals.
‘To prevent this, expansion must go hand in hand with the buildout of additional renewable energy,’ McArdle added.
‘If tech companies cannot bring their demand growth in line with climate science—it must be limited,’ she explained.
Jerry MacEvilly, the head of policy change at the Friends of the Earth Ireland, said the research should be a ‘wake-up call’ for decision-makers.
‘Already in Ireland, data centers are projected to reach 30% of electricity demand by 2030, growing way faster than the renewable energy procured to meet their needs, and connecting to the gas network to get around constraints in the power network,’ MacEvilly added.
The report comes days after the publication of a joint call by more than 100 civil society organizations urging policymakers and leaders to acknowledge AI’s environmental harms.
