The datacenter industry is set to emit 2.5 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide between now and the end of the decade, three times more than if generative AI had not been developed.
The research, "Global Data Centers: Sizing & Solving for CO2," shared privately, estimates the total global emissions for datacenters across Scope 1, 2 & 3 between now and the end of the decade, and concludes that construction of new facilities combined with their electricity needs will hit 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent, or about 40 percent of the entire current annual emissions from the United States.
All this for shitty chatbots and garbage images.