New gas-powered data centers could emit more greenhouse gases than whole nations

Post by 2ndorderthought » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 12:22 PM UTC

aresant wrote: post #9

The AI data center narrative is the perfect storm: First most of the data center build out is happening in areas that have had little other opportunity so local resistance is muted. Abilene, Texas is referenced and is the kind of place my grandfather would lovingly say is where you go to learn to be a “dirt farmer” Second, every environmentalist in the US is fighting 100 different battles with the most anti-regulatio…

Post by gruez » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 12:23 PM UTC

defrost wrote: post #30

gruez wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>More productivity lends to more exploitation, because you can do more with the same unit of work, instead of getting the same result with less work.. But per-capita greenhouse emissions have been falling in much of the developed world? And you can't really claim with a straight face that productivity has been dropping from 2000 to today. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-per-capita?c...

> But per-capita greenhouse emissions have been falling in much of the developed world? Only by the deceptive accounting trick of not including the emissions associated with overseas production of the goods consumed by the "developed world". If you include all the emissions that prop up the highest per capita consumption patterns on the planet then you see the highest per capita emissions attached to the highest cons…

Post by Zigurd » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 12:24 PM UTC

melling wrote: post #17

aresant wrote: post #9

The AI data center narrative is the perfect storm: First most of the data center build out is happening in areas that have had little other opportunity so local resistance is muted. Abilene, Texas is referenced and is the kind of place my grandfather would lovingly say is where you go to learn to be a “dirt farmer” Second, every environmentalist in the US is fighting 100 different battles with the most anti-regulatio…

Don’t forget environmentalists have been fighting against nuclear energy for decades. Update: Since I’m being downvoted I’m going to add a little sting: Good luck with your solar power web servers and skipping flights. Poor judgement really does have a price. It’s now inevitable that it’s going to get a bit warmer… everywhere. We’ll be lucky to hit Net Zero by 2100.

Post by tejohnso » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 12:28 PM UTC

twoodfin wrote: post #4

Very quick Googling suggests Wired’s estimate would be ~1.9% of US emissions. AI data center investment is, at core, a bet on increasing the productivity of labor. That’s what businesses will pay for, and what will earn the big money. If US labor productivity rises by more than 2%—and implicit in the size of this bet is a guess much higher—US carbon intensity goes down correspondingly, and these data centers end up a…

Post by duskdozer » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 12:29 PM UTC

melling wrote: post #17

aresant wrote: post #9

The AI data center narrative is the perfect storm: First most of the data center build out is happening in areas that have had little other opportunity so local resistance is muted. Abilene, Texas is referenced and is the kind of place my grandfather would lovingly say is where you go to learn to be a “dirt farmer” Second, every environmentalist in the US is fighting 100 different battles with the most anti-regulatio…

Don’t forget environmentalists have been fighting against nuclear energy for decades. Update: Since I’m being downvoted I’m going to add a little sting: Good luck with your solar power web servers and skipping flights. Poor judgement really does have a price. It’s now inevitable that it’s going to get a bit warmer… everywhere. We’ll be lucky to hit Net Zero by 2100.