US Gas-Fired Power Boom Fuels AI Expansion at Climate Cost
The United States has spearheaded a record surge in global gas-fired power generation, driven largely by the growing demand for energy from artificial intelligence (AI) datacenters. According to a new forecast, projects currently under development are expected to significantly increase existing global gas capacity by nearly 50%, marking a major leap towards heightened planet-heating emissions.
The US is leading this surge in gas power generation, with tripling its planned capacity in 2025 and much of the new capacity being devoted to fueling datacenters. A third of the 252 gigawatts of gas power in development will be located on site at these facilities. This vast expansion comes as scientists warn that fossil fuels must be rapidly phased out to avoid catastrophic global heating.
The environmental impact of this boom is set to be severe, with new gas projects expected to emit an additional 53.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetimes, if all completed. This represents a doubling of the current annual emissions coming from all sources in the US and would push the planet towards even worse heatwaves, droughts, floods, and other climate impacts.
Experts are sounding the alarm on this trend, with some arguing that the pursuit of low-cost energy for AI datacenters comes at the expense of long-term sustainability. Jenny Martos, project manager at Global Energy Monitor (GEM), warned: "Locking in new gas plants to meet uncertain AI energy demand means hard-wiring decades of pollution into a gambit that could be solved with flexible, clean power."
As the US drives this gas-fired boom forward, other countries are also investing heavily in fossil fuels. China, for instance, recently installed 22.4 gigawatts of new gas capacity, its most extensive single-year total.
But it is the US that stands out as a leader in this pursuit, with nearly a quarter of all global gas capacity currently under development. The state of Texas is at the epicenter of this growth, with 57.9 gigawatts of new gas power underway last year, leading to concerns about environmental impact and public health.
Critics argue that the massive datacenter expansion, driven by tech companies like Meta, will lead to higher energy bills for households and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Steve Clemmer, director of energy research at the Union of Concerned Scientists, warned: "Frenzied datacenter growth with little transparency or guardrails puts the public at risk of massive cost increases."
As the AI bubble continues to inflate, the US must decide whether it will prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability. With climate scientists warning that fossil fuels must be rapidly phased out, the future of this gas-fired boom hangs in the balance.
The United States has spearheaded a record surge in global gas-fired power generation, driven largely by the growing demand for energy from artificial intelligence (AI) datacenters. According to a new forecast, projects currently under development are expected to significantly increase existing global gas capacity by nearly 50%, marking a major leap towards heightened planet-heating emissions.
The US is leading this surge in gas power generation, with tripling its planned capacity in 2025 and much of the new capacity being devoted to fueling datacenters. A third of the 252 gigawatts of gas power in development will be located on site at these facilities. This vast expansion comes as scientists warn that fossil fuels must be rapidly phased out to avoid catastrophic global heating.
The environmental impact of this boom is set to be severe, with new gas projects expected to emit an additional 53.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetimes, if all completed. This represents a doubling of the current annual emissions coming from all sources in the US and would push the planet towards even worse heatwaves, droughts, floods, and other climate impacts.
Experts are sounding the alarm on this trend, with some arguing that the pursuit of low-cost energy for AI datacenters comes at the expense of long-term sustainability. Jenny Martos, project manager at Global Energy Monitor (GEM), warned: "Locking in new gas plants to meet uncertain AI energy demand means hard-wiring decades of pollution into a gambit that could be solved with flexible, clean power."
As the US drives this gas-fired boom forward, other countries are also investing heavily in fossil fuels. China, for instance, recently installed 22.4 gigawatts of new gas capacity, its most extensive single-year total.
But it is the US that stands out as a leader in this pursuit, with nearly a quarter of all global gas capacity currently under development. The state of Texas is at the epicenter of this growth, with 57.9 gigawatts of new gas power underway last year, leading to concerns about environmental impact and public health.
Critics argue that the massive datacenter expansion, driven by tech companies like Meta, will lead to higher energy bills for households and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Steve Clemmer, director of energy research at the Union of Concerned Scientists, warned: "Frenzied datacenter growth with little transparency or guardrails puts the public at risk of massive cost increases."
As the AI bubble continues to inflate, the US must decide whether it will prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability. With climate scientists warning that fossil fuels must be rapidly phased out, the future of this gas-fired boom hangs in the balance.
I'm seriously losing it when people say "low-cost energy" like it's a good thing! 
We're basically betting our planet on getting rich quick by burning fossil fuels, meanwhile climate scientists are screaming at us to stop, but nobody's listening 
. Like what even is the point of having super fast computers if we're just gonna blow up the planet in the process? 
I mean I get it, energy demand is crazy right now, but can't we find ways to be sustainable and innovate at the same time? 
It's like our generation is so caught up in progress for progress' sake that we've forgotten what actually matters - the future of our planet! 
. Like, I get it, we need energy for our AI datacenters and whatnot, but at what cost? We're basically locking ourselves into decades of pollution just to save a buck 
. And it's not like the environmental impact is going to be small... 53.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide? That's insane! 
. It's not like we're exactly setting a good example for the rest of the world right now. I mean, China just installed 22.4 gigawatts of new gas capacity and they're basically copying us 
.
. Like, can't we find a way to make clean power that's cheaper than fossil fuels? 
. We need a major paradigm shift if we want to avoid catastrophic global heating and actually make some progress on this whole climate crisis thing 
.
we gotta think about the planet's health here. tripling their planned capacity in 2025 is crazy talk 
and those emissions? like, whoa 
53.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide?! that's a whole lotta pollution! 
but it's hard when the datacenter expansion seems so big 
. we need that transition ASAP 
!