Data centers to consume more energy than entire US
Big shift alert: data centers are set to pull in $580 billion in global investment this year—outpacing even new oil projects, which will get $40 billion less, or about $540 billion.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says this shows just how much the world is betting on digital infrastructure.
They also predict AI-powered data centers could use five times more electricity by 2030, especially across the US, Europe, and China.
Data centers will likely run on renewable energy by 2035
With so many new data centers popping up near cities, there's a real strain on power grids—some places like Northern Virginia face decade-long waits for connections, while Dublin has paused new ones until 2028.
To keep things running (and greener), the IEA expects most data centers to run on renewables like solar by 2035, with some help from natural gas and even small nuclear plants.