Greenhouse gases from data center boom could outpace entire nations

Global data center emissions could surpass those of entire nations like Germany by 2027, according to a new study projecting 850 million metric tons of CO2 annually. This surge, driven by AI workloads and cloud expansion, demands immediate action from providers like Google and Microsoft, which must accelerate renewable adoption. The forecast shows data center emissions growing 40% faster than the average industrial sector, outpacing the entire aviation industry’s growth rate. Worse, the carbon footprint of a single large facility now exceeds that of 120,000 homes. These numbers put pressure on #6 to implement net-zero timelines, as the environmental cost of digital infrastructure becomes untenable.