Data centres to cause 2.5 bln tons of emissions by 2030: research

The rapid expansion of data centres worldwide is projected to generate approximately 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions by 2030, according to research by the multinational investment bank Morgan Stanley. This significant environmental impact is expected to drive a surge in investments aimed at decarbonisation efforts, suggests the research.

Hyperscalers, which include Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, are driving the swift proliferation of electricity-guzzling data centres to expand their artificial intelligence and cloud computing technologies. At the same time, the companies are holding onto pledges to slash global warming emissions from their centres by 2030.

"This creates a large market for decarbonisation solutions," according to Morgan Stanley's recent research report, which said the greenhouse gas emissions by the global data centre industry will amount to about 40% of what the entire US emits in a year.

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The build-out of the giant computer warehouses will increase investments in clean power development; energy efficient equipment and so-called green building materials, Morgan Stanley said.

Carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration (CCUS) technology and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) processes are also expected to get a boost as tech companies try to keep their climate promises, the report added.