Projected 10-30% Increase In Natural Gas Power Generation Because Muh AI Datacenters Must Be Fed!!! Oh, And Coal, Too [View all]

The explosion of data center development across the United States to serve the artificial intelligence industry is threatening decades of progress cutting greenhouse gas emissions, as utilities lay plans for scores of new gas power plants to meet soaring electricity demand.

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As part of the U.S. pledge to cut its total greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade, compared to 2005 levels, President Joe Biden has vowed to eliminate all power grid emissions by 2035. But there are 220 new, gas-burning power plants in various stages of development nationwide, according to the market data firm Yes Energy. Most of those plants are targeted to come online before 2032. Each has a lifespan of 25 to 40 years, meaning most would not be fully paid off — much less shut down — before federal and state target dates for transitioning power grids to cleaner electricity.

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The power sector was a bright spot in cutting emissions. They fell steadily over the last few decades, even as electricity use grew. A big factor was the steep drop in coal burning. Coal powered more than half of U.S. electricity in 1990, according to the University of Maryland’s Center for Global Sustainability. This year, it is less than 20 percent.

But even coal is making a comeback amid the data center boom. In several states, planned retirements of coal plants are already on hold. A Duke Energy executive told Bloomberg News that it will reexamine plans to burn less coal in Indiana if the Trump administration rescinds power plant emission rules. Data centers are behind two-thirds of the new demand for power in the Omaha region, where the Omaha Public Power District has delayed the closure of a major coal plant and is bringing online two large new gas plants. The utility said in a statement that it might purchase green energy credits, called “carbon offsets” in the future “as part of its overall plan to reach net-zero carbon.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/11/19/ai-cop29-climate-data-centers/