Artificial intelligence is on track to become a major consumer of electricity, potentially surpassing Bitcoin mining's notorious energy appetite by the end of 2025. According to research by Alex de Vries-Gao, a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam's Institute for Environmental Studies, AI could account for nearly half of global data center electricity usage by the end of 2025, up from around 20% today.
The surge in AI adoption has triggered a wave of new data center construction, particularly in the US, where electricity demand is expected to rise 25% by 2030 due to AI, traditional data centers, and Bitcoin mining. The environmental impact of AI varies widely depending on the location of data centers. For example, an AI query processed in West Virginia generates nearly double the emissions of one in California, which relies more on renewables.
Despite efficiency improvements, experts fear a Jevons paradox effect: as AI grows more powerful, its energy use may skyrocket regardless. The International Energy Agency predicts global data center electricity demand could double by 2026, reaching levels comparable to Japan's annual consumption.
Google's emissions have surged 48% in five years, with Microsoft similarly struggling to meet sustainability targets as AI workloads multiply. 40% of AI data centers are projected to hit power capacity limits by 2027, making infrastructure strain increasingly difficult to ignore. The IMF estimates AI's cumulative emissions through 2030 could reach 1.7 gigatons, equivalent to Italy's five-year output.
