By Avi Salzman
The AI data center buildout is causing carbon emissions to spike, according to the latest environmental reports from tech giants Google and Amazon. Both companies have ambitious climate goals, but are now facing higher hurdles to achieve them as they put up data centers around the country.
Many new data centers are powered by carbon-emitting sources like natural gas, at least in part. Last year, the amount of gas-fired power plants in development nearly tripled in the U.S., with 252 gigawatts being planned, according to Global Energy Monitor. If it all gets built, it would grow U.S. gas-generating capacity by nearly 50%. Data centers' environmental impact is one of the biggest knocks against them.
Google's emissions rose 18% in 2025 year over year, even as it made record-setting investments in decarbonization — agreeing to pay to restore an old nuclear reactor in Iowa, and build out the largest-ever American battery installation to store clean energy, among other efforts.
Google has one of the most ambitious climate goals in corporate America, aiming to source all its power on each of the grids where it operates with clean energy 24/7 by 2030 — a much harder goal than simply matching dirty investments in one part of the world with clean ones somewhere else.
The AI buildout will almost certainly make that harder, if not impossible.
Google's soaring need for power means it will have to build even more clean energy each year to keep up. Last year, its electricity needs jumped 37%.
"While we remain deeply committed to sustainability, reaching our climate moonshot is getting harder," the company said.
Without its extra investments in clean energy and efficiency, Google's carbon footprint last year would have been five times larger, the company said. In an interview last month, Briana Kobor, Google's Head of Energy Market Innovation, said the company can't single-handedly change the grid, but can make investments that advance new sources.
"Today and for many decades, the grid has relied on natural gas," she said. "I do expect that to continue. But what we focus on at the Google energy team is making sure that we can use our growth to catalyze new investments in clean energy and to make progress on our clean energy goals."
Amazon's emissions rose 16%, the company said in its latest sustainability report released this week. Much of those gains came from its supply chain emissions, which includes building data centers, the company said.
Amazon is building some of the world's largest data centers, including a massive complex in Indiana that's expected to be powered by natural gas plants.
Amazon says it's working with supply chain partners to get them to commit to decarbonizing, and is targeting net zero emissions globally by 2040. The company has been one of the largest corporate purchasers of clean energy for multiple years running.
Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com
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