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Major data center firms miss carbon targets as AI boosts emissions
An investigation found emissions from three-quarters of analyzed companies rose over the last reported year, with some doubling or tripling.
Bisnow reports that the world’s 20 largest data center companies, including major technology firms such as Google, Amazon, and Meta, plus owners and developers like Blackstone’s QTS and Digital Realty, have set targets to cut carbon emissions from their data center portfolios but are largely moving in the wrong direction.
According to the investigation, AI-driven growth has accelerated data center build-outs, while many operators still rely on fossil fuels for power and have turned to building gas-burning power plants to bring more computing capacity online faster.
Bisnow says emissions rose for three-quarters of the companies analyzed in the last year for which they reported data, with some firms seeing emissions double or triple. The outlet also found that six data center hyperscalers together put 171 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere in that period, 30 million more than the previous year.
The article adds that no company analyzed by Bisnow could state unequivocally that it has cut emissions under any of the plausible metrics considered for measuring carbon output, and that the public reporting may not capture the full emissions picture from data centers.