Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change: How AI Datacentres Are Fueling the Climate Crisis
As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly reshapes our digital lives, its hidden environmental cost is becoming impossible to ignore. Behind chatbots, image generators and recommendation engines lies an expanding network of energy-hungry datacentres — many powered by fossil fuels — accelerating climate breakdown and undermining global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.
The Invisible Pollution Powering AI
In May, environmental investigator Sharon Wilson used a thermal imaging camera to examine xAI’s Colossus datacentre in Memphis, Tennessee — home to what Elon Musk has described as the world’s most powerful AI supercomputer. What she captured was alarming.
The gas-fired turbines powering the facility, operating without pollution controls, were releasing vast quantities of methane — a greenhouse gas over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.
“It was jaw-dropping,” said Wilson, director of campaign group Oilfield Witness. “An unbelievable amount of pollution.”
Wilson estimates the facility may be emitting more methane than a large power plant — all to fuel AI systems producing questionable social value, including disinformation, extremist content and harmful deepfakes.
“It’s a horrible, horrible waste,” said Wilson, the director of campaign group Oilfield Witness, pointing to Grok-generated images of Nazi Mickey Mouse as an example of what fossil gas was being burned to produce. “What useful purpose does this serve?”
Datacentres and the Growing Energy Demand of AI
Globally, datacentres currently consume around 1% of the world’s electricity, but demand is rising at an exponential rate.
- In the United States, datacentres are projected to consume 8.6% of national electricity by 2035
- The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates datacentres will drive at least 20% of electricity demand growth in wealthy countries this decade
- In Ireland, datacentres already use one-fifth of national electricity, with projections nearing one-third in the coming years
This surge has overwhelmed electricity grids, delayed climate targets, and forced governments to reconsider grid connections and energy policy.
Ireland: A Warning From the Front Line
Ireland offers a stark warning of what happens when digital expansion outpaces energy planning.
According to Professor Hannah Daly of University College Cork, the country’s rapid datacentre expansion has effectively cancelled out climate gains from renewable energy growth. In 2021, the pressure on the grid became so severe that new datacentres were effectively barred from connecting.
The trajectory of “enormous, exponential growth” is what is so worrying, said Daly. “I’m not sure whether Ireland is a real outlier or a harbinger of what’s to come. But it’s definitely a cautionary tale.”
As Ireland builds LNG import terminals and new gas-fired power stations to supply energy-hungry datacentres, climate gains from renewable electricity have been wiped out. An analysis by Daly for Friends of the Earth Ireland shows the datacentre boom is undermining progress towards a clean power system.
Fossil Fuels Still Power the AI Boom
While tech companies often claim AI is powered by renewable energy, the reality is more complex.
- Many firms rely on fossil fuel-heavy grids, particularly in the US and China
- Long-term renewable energy contracts do not guarantee clean power at the moment of use
- Gas, coal and even imported LNG are filling the gap as demand outpaces renewable deployment
In the US, datacentres have even been used to justify expanded coal use, with policymakers claiming fossil fuels are essential to “winning the AI race”.
“This idea that the lower cost of renewables alone will drive decarbonisation – it’s not enough,” said Daly. “Because if there’s a huge source of energy demand that wants to grow, it will land on these stranded fossil fuel assets.”
How Much Energy Does AI Really Use?
A single AI query may use only a small amount of electricity — estimates range from 0.2 to 3 watt-hours for simple text prompts. But scale is everything.
With hundreds of millions of weekly users, AI is being embedded into:
- Search engines
- Marketing platforms
- Customer service
- Travel booking
- Shopping and advertising
The cumulative energy demand is vast — and growing fast.
Can AI Help Solve the Climate Crisis?
Some researchers argue AI could reduce emissions elsewhere in the economy, potentially outweighing its own carbon footprint.
Proposed benefits include:
- Optimising renewable energy grids
- Improving battery technology
- Reducing datacentre cooling energy
- Enhancing wind and solar performance
Indeed, AI has already examples where it has helped :
- Google cut datacentre cooling energy by 40%
- Iberdrola increase wind efficiency by 25%
- Engie reduce downtime on solar farms
“AI can accelerate the deployment of those clean technologies by basically accelerating their position along the curve of innovation and adoption,” said co-author Roberta Pierfederici, a policy fellow at the LSE’s Grantham Institute.
However, these gains come with serious caveats.
“What I’m worried about is that we’re deploying AI in such a way that we don’t have a good idea of the energy use,” said Sasha Luccioni, climate lead at AI company Hugging Face, who has grown frustrated by “selective disclosures” from big companies that obscure the real climate impact of their products. “We’re essentially operating on the hypothesis that it’s not a problem – or that if it is a problem it will somehow be solved – instead of getting ahead of it.”
The Rebound Effect: When Efficiency Increases Emissions
Greater efficiency does not always mean lower emissions. History shows that cheaper, faster technology often leads to more consumption — not less.
AI is already:
- Boosting fossil fuel exploration and extraction
- Supercharging targeted advertising and consumer demand
- Lowering the cost of high-carbon activities like air travel
The IEA estimates AI could increase recoverable oil and gas reserves by 5%, while major oil companies describe AI as “the next fracking boom”.
AI and the Expansion of Fossil Fuel Production
Major tech firms continue to provide AI tools to oil and gas companies, helping them:
- Plan wells faster
- Reduce drilling costs
- Increase productivity and output
While AI can detect methane leaks, critics argue this does little to address the core issue: deliberate fossil fuel expansion in a climate emergency.
Calls for Regulation and Moratoriums
As environmental impacts mount, calls for stronger regulation are growing:
- Over 230 US environmental groups have demanded a moratorium on new datacentres
- A UN special rapporteur has warned datacentres threaten water security and ecosystems
- Spain now legally promotes AI only where it supports decarbonisation
- Climate leaders have proposed taxing AI to fund climate action
In Ireland, regulators now require datacentres to source 80% of electricity from new renewables, but enforcement remains a challenge.
A Choice About the Future of AI
AI is not inherently harmful — but without strict guardrails, it risks deepening the climate crisis.
Former Microsoft employees Holly and Will Alpine, now climate advocates, argue the focus must shift to enabled emissions — not just a company’s direct footprint, but the pollution its technology makes possible.
“We’re not anti-AI,” they say. “We just want reasonable limits.”
Building Climate-Safe AI
To align AI with a liveable planet, we need:
- Transparent reporting of AI energy use
- Binding limits on fossil fuel-powered datacentres
- AI tools designed to be efficient by default
- Regulation of high-risk uses, including fossil fuel expansion
Luccioni said that, rather than panic about AI, people should pressure companies to make tools that are frugal by design.
“Maybe I’m a little naive, but I still believe that AI can do good in terms of fighting the climate crisis – designing the next generation of batteries, tracking deforestation, predicting hurricanes,” she said. “There are so many good things for which we can be using it – and instead we’re creating social media websites filled with AI slop while datacentres are getting powered by diesel generators.”
As AI reshapes the future, the question is no longer whether it can transform society — but whether it will do so within planetary boundaries.
About Natural World Fund
Natural World Fund focuses on restoring and protecting habitats across the UK to support long-term wildlife recovery.