Greenpeace report How Clean is Your Cloud? I saw mentioned in 3T magazine news is actually quite interesting reading. This year’s report provides a look at the energy choices some of the largest and fastest growing IT companies. The report analyzes the 14 IT companies and the electricity supply chain in more than 80 data center cases.
The report contains also lots of interesting background information on both IT and telecom energy consumption. I recommend checking it out. Here are some points picked from How Clean is Your Cloud? report:
Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo – these global brands and a host of other IT companies are rapidly and fundamentally transforming the way in which we work, communicate, watch movies or TV, listen to music, and share pictures through “the cloud.”
The growth and scale of investment in the cloud is truly mind-blowing, with estimates of a 50-fold increase in the amount of digital information by 2020 and nearly half a trillion in investment in the coming year, all to create and feed our desire for ubiquitous access to infinite information from our computers, phones and other mobile devices, instantly.
The engine that drives the cloud is the data center. Data centers are the factories of the 21st century information age, containing thousands of computers that store and manage our rapidly growing collection of data for consumption at a moment’s notice. Given the energy-intensive nature of maintaining the cloud, access to significant amounts of electricity is a key factor in decisions about where to build these data centers. Industry leaders estimate nearly $450bn US dollars is being spent annually on new data center space.
Since electricity plays a critical role in the cost structure of companies that use the cloud, there have been dramatic strides made in improving the energy efficiency design of the facilities and the thousands of computers that go inside. However, despite significant improvements in efficiency, the exponential growth in cloud computing far outstrips these energy savings.
How much energy is required to power the ever-expanding online world? What percentage of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is attributable to the IT sector? Answers to these questions are very difficult to obtain with any degree of precision, partially due to the sector’s explosive growth, a wide range of devices and energy sources, and rapidly changing technology and business models. The estimates of the IT sector’s carbon footprint performed to date have varied widely in their methodology and scope. One of the most recognized estimates of the IT sector’s footprint was conducted as part of the 2008 SMART 2020 study, which established that the sector is responsible for 2% of global GHG emissions.
The combined electricity demand of the internet/cloud (data centers and telecommunications network) globally in 2007 was approximately 623bn kWh (if the cloud were a country, it would have the fifth largest electricity demand in the world). Based on current projections, the demand for electricity will more than triple to 1,973bn kWh (an amount greater than combined total demand of France, Germany, Canada and Brazil).
The report indicates that, due to the economic downturn and continued energy efficiency and performance improvements, global energy demand from data centers from 2005-2010 increased by 56%. Estimates of data center electricity demand come in at 31GW globally, with an increase of 19% in 2012 alone. At the same time global electricity consumption is otherwise essentially flat due to the global recession is still a staggering rate of growth.
Given the scale of predicted growth, the source of electricity must be factored into a meaningful definition of “green IT”. Energy efficiency alone will, at best, slow the growth of the sector’s footprint. The replacement of dirty sources of electricity with clean renewable sources is still the crucial missing link in the sector’s sustainability efforts according to the report.
The global telecoms sector is also growing rapidly. Rapid growth in use of smart phones and broadband mobile connections mean mobile data traffic in 2011 was eight times the size of the entire internet in 2000. It is estimated that global mobile data traffic grew 133% in 2011, with 597 petabytes of data sent by mobiles every month. In 2011, it is estimated that 6 billion people or 86.7% of the entire global population have mobile telephone subscriptions. By the end of 2012, the number of mobile connected devices is expected to exceed the global population. Electronic devices and the rapidly growing cloud that supports our demand for greater online access are clearly a significant force in driving global energy demand.
What about telecoms in the developing and newly industrialized countries? The report has some details from India (by the way it is expected that India will pass China to become the world’s largest mobile market in terms of subscriptions in 2012). Much of the growth in the Indian telecom sector is from India’s rural and semi-urban areas. By 2012, India is likely to have 200 million rural telecom connections at a penetration rate of 25%. Out of the existing 400,000 mobile towers, over 70% exist in rural and semi-urban areas where either grid-connected electricity is not available or the electricity supply is irregular. As a result, mobile towers and, increasingly, grid-connected towers in these areas rely on diesel generators to power their network operations. The consumption of diesel by the telecoms sector currently stands at a staggering 3bn liters annually, second only to the railways in India.
What is the case on other developing and newly industrialized countries? I don’t actually know.
NOTE: Please note that that many figures given on the report are just estimates based on quite little actual data, so they might be somewhat off the actual figures. Given the source of the report I would quess that if the figures are off, they are most probably off to direction so that the environmental effect looks bigger than it actually is.
867 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Data centers generate low-level, non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and electrical harmonic distortions via heavy-duty power equipment, transformers, and cooling systems. While direct on-site fields drop rapidly outside the building, high-capacity grid demands can alter local power quality (“dirty electricity”).
Sources of EMF & Electrical Distortion
Power Infrastructure: High-voltage transmission lines, local substations, and large transformers supplying the facility create Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) magnetic and electric fields.
Operational Gear: Switching power supplies, inverters, and cooling fans generate localized high-frequency voltage transients and electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Grid Harmonics: Massive computing loads (especially for AI) can distort AC power waveforms on surrounding municipal grids.
Safety and Community Impact
Local Proximity: Direct magnetic and radiofrequency radiation from the internal servers does not typically extend past the physical walls in concentrated amounts.
Health Research: Non-ionizing ELF fields are classified by agencies like the World Health Organization as possible human carcinogens based on long-term statistical links to power-line exposures, though localized data center contributions remain heavily debated.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E1Gwihdaz/
Amazon disclosed its data center water consumption for the first time, revealing that its global operations used 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025 — a volume equivalent to roughly 3,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The company maintains an expansive network of more than 900 facilities across over 50 countries, where massive water-based cooling systems prevent server overheating.
Despite significant expansion in its data center footprint to meet surging artificial intelligence demand, Amazon reduced direct water usage by 2% between 2024 and 2025 through more efficient cooling methods and a commitment to return water to communities. Facing mounting pressure from regulators and environmental advocates, the company is advancing its goal to become water positive by 2030.
The disclosure comes amid growing public scrutiny over data center environmental impact. In the U.S., Utah recently enacted groundbreaking legislation requiring certain new data centers to publicly report their annual water usage. Polling reveals shifting public sentiment: only one-third of Americans support new data center construction, and a mere 14% would accept having one built near their home — highlighting the challenge tech giants face in expanding infrastructure while maintaining community trust.
Images are generated by AI and for demonstration purposes only.
Source: Bhutani, A. (2026). Amazon Says Its Data Centers Used 2.5 Billion Gallons of Water in 2025. The Wall Street Journal.
#sustainability #waterconsumption #datacenters #AI #technology #environmentalimpact #transparency #fblifestyle
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://tech.supercarblondie.com/how-much-water-ai-data-centers-actually-use/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Disgusting. https://trib.al/lbSu77T
How Exhausting
AI Data Centers Are Causing Unfathomable Amounts of Air Pollution, and It Gets Worse With Each New One They Build
The tech industry is showing no signs of slowing down.
https://futurism.com/future-society/ai-data-centers-air-pollution-generators-worse?fbclid=IwdGRjcATmquhjbGNrBOaqxHBkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEe938cUddFiI9LhYwalkeL8eVlPBllXG25fB5rXcRw2t8Yi7Cz3ZMLO8fliqU_aem_xhHAXU4U5mcdkeX8woHXnw
The amount of pollution spilling out of fossil-fuel generators is astounding. In the United States, this explosion of emissions is led by states like Texas, which on a global scale is comparable only to China in terms of new infrastructure powered by dead dinosaurs.
And as more data centers crop up throughout the US, that problem — of rising emissions linked to the accelerating demand for any kind of electricity — is only going to get worse.
According to reporting by the New York Times, the US currently has at least 82 data center-linked gas generators either in development or in the proposal stage. These are massive facilities which rival public electrical generators in size and power, only they’re not managed by the government, and the power they generate isn’t meant for citizens.
Instead, these are private generators, developed by big tech companies like Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta or Elon Musk’s xAI. The electricity they’ll supply is intended only for data centers, which grow ever-hungrier for power as new iterations of AI chips and energy-hungry large language models enter into production.
Assuming all 82 of those plants come online as planned, the NYT notes they could spew enough emissions in one year to rival the output of half the passenger cars in the US.
That’s an astonishing amount of pollution, made possible thanks to industry-friendly state regulators in places like Texas and Ohio, where permits for behemoth fossil fuel fired generators are approved in as little as 18 days, often without public disclosure.
It’s possible that moratoriums on new data centers might slow the burn, but unless states begin the unlikely task of banning new gas generators for existing facilities, we can expect US fossil fuel emissions to continue to rise precipitously in the years to come.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1H2C7f1CPQ/
People in Virginia are breathing the exhaust of 10,500 diesel generators from data centers.
In Northern Virginia, home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, an analysis of 132 facilities revealed they are backed by more than 10,500 industrial diesel generators.
While designed for emergency backup during power outages, these massive generators require regular testing, releasing toxic exhaust including nitrogen oxides and fine soot. Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Washington found that operating these generators for less than an hour a week creates a public health hazard equivalent to five large gas-fired power plants, worsening lung conditions and causing at least three premature deaths annually.
This is not just a Virginia problem, as the explosive growth of tech infrastructure has triggered a massive deployment of diesel generators in states like Oregon, Delaware, Utah, and Maryland. While the industry and local regulators maintain that these backup systems operate within safe environmental standards, nearby residents report seeing black smoke and falling soot that cause severe throat and nose irritation.
Compounding the risk, federal officials have authorized grid operators to call on these massive generator fleets during periods of high electricity demand. As more facilities are approved nationwide, communities are increasingly forced to choose between supporting the high-tech boom and protecting local public health.
source: Halper, E., & Crowe, K. (2026). As Data Centers Boom, Virginians Breathe the Exhaust of 10,000 Diesel Generators. The Washington Post.
———————— the generators suppose to be backup power, used only when is a power outage, which happen 2.4 hours per year in average.
Many things that people (2.6 million in Nova) use everyday produces far more pollution per year than 10,500×2.5 hr.
Consider the scale.
This region handles about 70% of the world’s daily internet traffic.
500+ data centers over about 1,300 square miles.
The generators are averaging roughly 10 hours of operation a year per engine.
10 hours pf operation out of 8760 per year.
0.012% operation time.
There are estimated over 12 million residential backup generators in the US and millions more commercially. All usually do a weekly test for about 10 to 15 minutes a week.
Most residential and many commercial iunits do not use diesel fuel. They will use natural gas or propane.
That graphic leaves out the part that changes the whole context. Those 10,500 diesel units are backup generators for data centers, not engines running around the clock. The article says they operate less than an hour a week on average, and Amazon says its Virginia fleet averages about 10 hours a year.
They’re there because data centers support critical infrastructure. Hospitals, emergency services, communications, government systems and national security functions increasingly depend on cloud and data center services staying online during outages.
And the “14,000 asthma episodes” number is a modeled estimate from a separate study still undergoing peer review, not 14,000 confirmed cases.
Diesel exhaust should obviously be controlled, but portraying these as 10,500 constantly smoking generators while ignoring why backup power exists is a pretty misleading picture.
Why is everything a fight because of social media. May i ask which data centre this is?
We cant stop technology to advance… human need to adapt, innovate and improve without compromising the environment. Earth’s surface is composed of 71% water and there should be a way to build these in the middle of the sea to cool it down without polluting it. We have unlimited free power from sun, wind and water but some human still prefer to use these fossil fuels because its a big business. There is always a solution but most human are only thinking of negative impact instead of finding ways to solve it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
About 15% of homes and 50% of businesses in the US have backup generators because green energy is making the grid so unreliable. Generators need a weekly or monthly 1 hour run cycle to make sure they are functioning and to lubricate the parts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Data centers use grid power (and renewables) for daily operations, treating diesel strictly as a temporary emergency safety net. While building new coal plants is economically and environmentally off the table, the shift toward dedicated nuclear power (SMRs and co-location) is actively underway to solve the AI power bottleneck.
Tomi Engdahl says:
That point highlights a real and growing tension in grid management: grid instability and long connection queues are indeed forcing data centers to run generators far more often—and for longer stretches—than originally intended.
However, while generators are being pressed into service during grid stress, using standard diesel as a routine, long-term supplemental power source hits major legal, financial, and mechanical walls.
Tomi Engdahl says:
That point highlights a real and growing tension in grid management: grid instability and long connection queues are indeed forcing data centers to run generators far more often—and for longer stretches—than originally intended.
However, while generators are being pressed into service during grid stress, using standard diesel as a routine, long-term supplemental power source hits major legal, financial, and mechanical walls.
Peak Curtailment / Demand Response: In regions with strained grids (like Texas’s ERCOT or the mid-Atlantic’s PJM), grid operators increasingly require or incentivize large data centers to disconnect from the public grid during extreme heatwaves or winter freezes. To stay online, the facilities are forced to spin up their onsite backup generators for hours or days at a time.
”Bridging Power” While Waiting for the Grid: Because utility grid interconnection queues can take 3 to 7 years, some developers apply for temporary permits to run behind-the-meter generation as “bridging power” so they can open facilities on schedule before their utility hookup is ready.
Why Diesel Cannot Be the Long-Term “Supplemental” Solution
While the need for supplemental on-site power is real, standard diesel engines struggle to fill that role permanently:
Strict Environmental Air Quality Caps: Under U.S. EPA regulations and regional air quality boards, emergency diesel generators are capped (typically at 100 hours per year for maintenance and non-emergency testing) due to high emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x), particulate matter, and carcinogenic soot. Running them routinely as standard supplemental power violates clean air permits unless expensive industrial scrubbers are retrofitted.
Astronomical Operating Costs: Burning diesel fuel continuously to generate hundreds of megawatts costs significantly more per kilowatt-hour than buying utility grid electricity or natural gas.
Engine Wear & Fuel Supply Chains: Emergency standby engines are designed for short-term uptime, not continuous 24/7 baseload duty cycles. Running thousands of gallons of diesel per hour requires a continuous stream of fuel tanker trucks, creating severe logistics risks during regional emergencies.
What Tech Companies Are Actually Using for Supplemental Power
To solve the grid delay problem without violating air permits, data center operators are turning to alternative behind-the-meter technologies rather than traditional diesel:
Natural Gas Microgrids & Turbines: Gas-fired combustion turbines or reciprocating engines emit far fewer particulates than diesel and can run continuously as primary or supplemental power while waiting for grid expansion.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Utility-scale lithium-ion battery banks absorb excess grid power when available and discharge during peak demand hours, bridging short gaps without burning any fuel.
Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO): Many major operators (like Microsoft) are replacing petroleum diesel with drop-in renewable diesel (HVO) in their backup generators to lower net carbon emissions when forced off the grid.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“The Colorado River no longer reliably produces enough water to support all the uses and expectations built around it.”
Lake Mead, The Largest Reservoir In The US, Has Just Reached Its Lowest Level Ever Recorded
“The Colorado River no longer reliably produces enough water to support all the uses and expectations built around it.”
https://www.iflscience.com/lake-mead-the-largest-reservoir-in-the-us-has-just-reached-its-lowest-level-ever-recorded-84335?fbclid=IwdGRjcATnyPRjbGNrBOfI3XBkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEeN3EKj57rVBK1jQg0L5wVs2tN9a3PKCF2SjSU5MzBGtk6eAYAuDS-Sjnnbh0_aem_2LhaL9C0bygyyXRId1-y5Q
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US, has been struggling for decades, but this summer it’s taken its heaviest blow yet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1EpUurYDjb/
Comment
About 15% of Colorado River water is Exported out of America to foreign countries as Cattle Feed.
Arizona is allocated about 2.8 million acre feet of Colorado River water per year.
Nevada is allocated 1.8% of water from the Colorado River, or about 300,000 acre feet per year.
The lowering water level is not the fault of Southern Nevada or Arizona.
46% of all Colorado water is used to grow Cattle feed, 35% is used by California to grow Cattle Feed, and 15% of Colorado River water is EXPORTED out of America as Cattle Feed.
Data Centers either use “Evaporative Cooling” or “Closed Loop” (recycling) water to cool their operations, but most Data Centers use “Evaporative Cooling” and “80%” is evaporated into the atmosphere leaving “20%” discharged as fresh water.
Clark County NV requires that only Closed Loop cooling be used, and Evaporative Cooling is banned in Clark County.
Closed Loop cooling must be demanded by the citizens of all Colorado River Compact states.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2026/08/10/the-physics-of-keeping-thermal-power-stations-cool/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Ebu9iZ5cp/
Suomeen syntyy kovaa vauhtia uusia datakeskuksia – hankkeita on vireillä peräti 130 kappaletta.
Nyt onkin pysähdyttävä kysymään: onko datakeskusten yhteiskunnallinen hyöty riittävä, että sen varjolla voidaan uhrata arvokasta luontoa ja lisätä sähkönkulutusta merkittävästi?
Suomi on teknologiayhtiöille houkutteleva maa vakaan toimintaympäristön ja edullisen, pitkälti uusiutuvasti tuotetun sähkön ansiosta.
Vaikka energia on tuotettu uusiutuvasti, jättimäisillä datakeskuksilla on isoja haitallisia vaikutuksia ympäristöön. Ne voivat haukata satoja hehtaareja luontoa, aiheuttaa melua ja rehevöittää lähivesistöjä, jos niiden hukkalämpö johdetaan vesiin. Uusiutuva energiakin rakennetaan aina jonnekin – ja varsin usein esimerkiksi tuulivoimaloilla on haitallisia vaikutuksia luontoon.
Vaadimme, että Suomeen luodaan strategia, jotta datakeskukset voidaan ohjata sopiville paikoille ja niiden määrä rajata kestävälle tasolle. Strategian lähtökohtana pitäisi olla:
1. Datakeskusten rakentamista on ohjattava valtakunnallisesti paikkoihin, joissa ne aiheuttavat mahdollisimman vähän haittaa luonnolle.
2. Ei uusia verotukia datakeskuksille. Googlen kaltaiset jättiyritykset eivät tarvitse veroeurojamme.
3. Ympäristövaikutukset on arvioitava jokaisen hankkeen kohdalla.
4. #datakeskukset Datakeskusten tuottaman hukkalämmön hyödyntämisen on oltava ehto rakentamiselle. Hukkalämpöä ei saa ohjata vesistöihin, joissa se voi lisätä rehevöitymistä.
Monikansalliset kaivosyhtiöt ovat jo pitkään saaneet hyödyntää uusiutumattomia luonnonvarojamme ilman kunnollista korvausta. Esimerkiksi kaivosten ympäristöhaitat ovat jääneet suomalaisten maksettaviksi, kun taloudelliset hyödyt ovat valuneet muualle. Datakeskuksen kohdalla emme saa tehdä samoja virheitä.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Väitteessä yhdistyy useita datakeskuskeskustelussa esiin nousevia huolia. Osa niistä perustuu todellisiin haasteisiin, kun taas osa sisältää väärinkäsityksiä tai vanhentunutta tietoa.
“Orpon hallitus myöntää yritystukia datakeskuksille”
Toiminnan tuki (sähkövero): Datakeskukset kuuluvat Suomessa teollisuuden alempaan sähköveroluokkaan (luokka II). Tämä ei ole suora rahallinen yritystuki tai subventio, vaan verokanta, joka on sama kaikelle teollisuudelle. Veroasteen poistamista tai korottamista on kuitenkin ehdotettu julkisessa keskustelussa.
Investointituet: Suoria valtion investointitukia datakeskushankkeille ei pääsääntöisesti myönnetä suuria määriä
Talousarvio/Hallitusohjelma: Keskustelua käydään siitä, pitäisikö sähköveroluokkaa muuttaa ja asettaa datakeskuksille tiukempia ehtoja (kuten velvoite hukkalämmön hyödyntämisestä)
“Eivät maksa veroja Suomeen”
Kiinteistövero, Sähkövero ja muut verot
Suomessa toimivat paikalliset tytäryhtiöt maksavat yhteisöveroa Suomeen
“Eivät työllistä kuin rakennusvaiheessa”
Pitää osittain paikkansa: Datakeskusten maapinta-alaan ja sähkönkulutukseen nähden niiden suora pysyvä henkilöstömäärä (noin 50–200 henkeä per suuri keskus) on pienempi kuin perinteisessä tehdasteollisuudessa.
“Tuhoavat veden ja kuluttavat sähköä”
Sähkönkulutus: Väite sähkönkulutuksesta on totta. Suuret datakeskukset vievät huomattavan osan sähköverkon kapasiteetista. Tämä vaatii kantaverkon vahvistamista ja lisää puhtaan sähköntuotannon (kuten tuuli- ja ydinvoiman) tarvetta.
Vedenkulutus: Suomessa suurin osa uudemmista datakeskuksista käyttää niin sanottua ilmajäähdytystä tai suljettua nestekiertoa, jossa vettä ei kulu valtavia määriä. Osassa keskuksista kuitenkin käytetään haihdutusjäähdytystä, mikä voi lisätä paikallista vedenkulutusta. Suomen vesivarat ovat yleisesti ottaen runsaita
“Ovat turvallisuusuhka”
Kaksiteräinen miekka
Politikoinnissa kyse on tasapainottelusta: toisaalta halutaan houkutella vihreän siirtymän investointeja ja kaukolämmön päästöttömiä lähteitä, toisaalta halutaan varmistaa, että maankäyttö, sähköverkon kestävyys ja verotulot ovat yhteiskunnan kannalta reiluja.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Denice Rodriguez at the moment data centers do not take anywhere near all of drinking water. Actially data centers take a very very small fraction (~0.2%) of fresh water in USA. What is really using and wasting the drinking water is everything else. There are some locations in USA where local data centers can use significant part of local drinling water supply.
Absolute volume is INCREASING: The sheer scale of new AI and cloud data center construction means total national water consumption by data centers is climbing quickly.
Facility efficiency is INCREASING (Water use per GPU is DECREASING): Modern data centers built today use significantly less water per megawatt of IT capacity than older facilities, thanks to dry-cooling mandates, closed-loop designs, and direct liquid cooling.