How much electricity do data centres and AI use?

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1. 1

   Data center (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Oct 3, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “A data center is a physical room, building, or facility for storing, managing, and disseminating data and information, including computer systems and associated components, housing IT infrastructure, and training artificial intelligence. The United States' act of Congress, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, defines a data center as "any facility that primarily contains electronic equipment used to process, store, and transmit digital information." This includes "a free-standing structure" or "a facility within a larger structure, that uses environmental control equipment to maintain the proper conditions for the operation of electronic equipment." According to IBM, data centers date back to the 1940s, with the U.S. military's Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) as an early example. Data centers have different models depending on their workloads.”

2. 2

   Data centre industry in India (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Sep 30, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “India has a growing data centre industry. Data centres are used for national security, internet infrastructure, and economic output. As of 2024, India's data centre capacity is at 950 MW, which is expected to be 1800 MW by 2026. The data centre industry is valued at US$1.2 billion in 2021, a 216% growth from $385 million in 2014. The number of data centres in India is 138, as of March 2022. India ranks 13th globally in terms of highest number of data centres. As of 2021, Indian data centres occupy over 8 million sq ft area. 60% of total data centres are in Navi Mumbai, Chennai,Noida, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Hyderabad. India's data centre capacity is projected to experience significant growth, doubling from 0.9 GW in 2023 to approximately 2 GW by 2026. This expansion is driven by the increasing digitisation and data localisation trends within the country. Despite generating 20% of the global data, India currently holds only a 3% share of global data centre capacity, highlighting substantial under-penetration in this sector. The estimated capital expenditure required for this capacity addition is around Rs 50,000 crore over the next three years.”

3. 3

   Quantifying and Disclosing the Environmental Footprint of AI in Research: Life Cycle-Informed Framework and Open-Access Calculator Development Study.

   JMIR AI (Mozafari et al.)Published Aug 18, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “In the small laboratory scenario, optimization reduced total emissions from approximately 0.07 kg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) to 0.05 kg CO2e and improved the proposed label from C to B. In the midsized cluster scenario, carbon-aware scheduling reduced emissions from approximately 665 kg CO2e/month to 450 kg CO2e/month-a 32% reduction. In the large-scale scenario, shifting to renewable-backed, lower-PUE infrastructure reduced operational emissions by approximately 79% while increasing the importance of water-carbon trade-off reporting.ConclusionsThe calculator provides a practical and transparent method for reporting AI environmental footprints using auditable parameters and publication-ready outputs. Routine disclosure of energy use, emissions, water use, hardware assumptions, and regional context can improve reproducibility and support more equitable and sustainable AI research evaluation.”