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Business Insider
17-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
How Business Insider investigated the true cost of data centers
Tech companies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars building data centers, racing to power an AI revolution they say will bring broad benefits and enormous profits. The actual price, though, has never been fully measured. So a team of Business Insider reporters and editors set out to find the true cost of the US data center boom — in water, power, pollution, and tax incentives. We pulled obscure state records, scoured corporate disclosures, and sought analysis and guidance from government researchers in Virginia and elsewhere. We spoke to engineering specialists who study data centers, including Shaolei Ren at the University of California, Riverside, and Vijay Gadepally of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We also spoke to researchers who study incentive packages, such as Kasia Tarczynska of Good Jobs First, a research group that advocates for transparency and equality in public subsidies. And we sought input from companies and industry groups. The result is the most complete accounting yet of data centers' impact on our environment, economy, and lives. Here's how we did it. We started by identifying how many data centers there are, and who owns them Data centers can never be without power. Developers build backup generators to provide emergency electricity. Since these generators emit air pollution, they are regulated by state environmental agencies and need permits. We requested these air permits and applications from 50 states and Washington, DC, asking agencies to search permits using federal industry codes associated with data centers. To confirm state searches were complete, Business Insider cross-referenced permits against company disclosures, news articles, and data from Baxtel, and other trade websites. Some of the permits we obtained were actually for other types of facilities. If public or corporate records confirmed the facility was not a data center, we removed it from our analysis. We compiled permits for 1,240 existing or planned data centers across the country, the most definitive tally to date. Tracking the year each permit was first issued reveals a construction boom. Until 2010, companies had filed permits for 311 data centers. By 2024, that number had nearly quadrupled. Often the permit holders are subsidiaries of Big Tech companies, with unfamiliar names like Nova Mango Farms. Business Insider determined the owners using emails, addresses, and other information on permit applications, secretary-of-state disclosures, county databases, and SEC filings. Then we mapped those centers' locations and estimated the resources they consume Business Insider mapped location information from the permits onto the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas built by the World Resources Institute, a Washington, DC, group that advocates sustainability. The atlas measures a location's relative water stress — the ratio between demand and available, renewable supplies. Business Insider found that 40% of data centers were sited in areas of high or extremely high water stress. Data centers can use staggering amounts of water. Business Insider requested metered water use records and water supply agreements from dozens of public utility agencies for every data center in areas with extremely high water stress. Data center water use is a closely guarded secret. Many agencies denied our requests for facility-specific water use or released the records only in aggregate for all data centers in a water utility's service area. In Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado, utility agencies sued Business Insider to prevent the release of metered water use records. Business Insider prevailed in both lawsuits. Business Insider found that some of the largest data center facilities were permitted to use more water a day than you might expect nearly 49,000 Americans to use. Companies also disclose little information on how much power their US data centers consume. Data center power use varies based on factors including the types and frequency of use of servers, cooling systems, and other infrastructure. To account for this, Business Insider calculated a range of estimated annual data center electricity use. To calculate this range, Business Insider used air permit data to identify the total power-generation capacity of every backup generator at each facility. Companies rarely install generator capacity that is more than twice what a data center consumes — and often they install significantly less than that. So Business Insider, in consultation with experts, conservatively estimated that a data center's maximum electricity use is between half and 80% of its generators' capacity. A 2024 federal report estimates that across the industry, data centers operate at just 50% of that maximum electricity use level, to avoid straining their equipment. So Business Insider multiplied the low and high ends of its initial range by 50%. Business Insider's data includes permits for data centers that are not yet built and fully online, and therefore estimates expected electricity use in the near future. If all permitted data centers go online, we estimate, they will use between 149.6 terawatt-hours and 239.3 terawatt-hours a year. Business Insider's low-end estimate is roughly equivalent to the state of Ohio's electricity needs in 2023, and on the high end, is nearly as much power as the entire state of Florida used that same year. Our estimates are conservative. The low end of our estimate is below the federal report's estimate for data center power use in 2023. The federal report estimates data center power use could reach the upper end of our estimate by 2026. Business Insider used the range average to identify the 322 largest facilities in our dataset that, according to our estimate, consume 40 megawatt-hours of electricity or more an hour. An Amazon spokesperson said the methodology "oversimplifies complex data center operations and is based on assumptions that do not account for important differences in how companies build and operate data centers." Google and Meta did not respond to Business Insider's queries about data center power use estimates, and QTS declined to comment. A Microsoft spokesperson acknowledged that its data centers "do not always run at 100% of their installed capacity." Nineteen permits across 10 states — including 12 held by Google — have their generator capacity information fully or partially redacted under public disclosure exemptions for trade secrets. Business Insider was unable to estimate the electricity use of these facilities, so our estimate likely undercounts the true total. Next, we calculated data centers' likely public health and environmental impact The US uses highly polluting fossil-fuel-fired sources for at least 60% of its electricity. Data centers draw power from a wide regional grid, so Business Insider needed to estimate the public health impact attributable to data centers' use of electricity generated from far-away power plants. The US electricity grid is complex and does not map closely to state boundaries. To model the complexity of the US electricity grid, Business Insider used an Environmental Protection Agency tool called AVERT that splits the contiguous 48 states into 14 independent electricity regions that approximate grid regions. Using our estimate for data center power consumption, along with US Energy Information Administration data and the AVERT tool, Business Insider calculated the likely share of total power use attributable to data centers in each of these 14 regions. Then, using another EPA tool with the acronym COBRA, Business Insider estimated the public health cost engendered by that share of total electricity-generation-related pollution in each region. Even a careful calculation like this is inherently imperfect, but in the absence of industry transparency about such emissions it provides a rare and well-founded estimate of the health costs of the data center boom. Business Insider estimated that annual public health costs from electricity generation for data centers could reach between $5.7 billion and $9.2 billion. Power plants are not the only source of data center air pollution. The diesel backup generators installed at data centers emit volatile organic compounds, nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxides, and particulate matter — all regulated air pollutants the EPA labels as hazardous to human health. Air permits issued to these facilities set total annual pollutant emission limits that determine how frequently their generators can be used. Data centers generally run their generators infrequently so emit only a fraction of the pollutants their permits allow. A 2024 report to the state legislature in Virginia — which is home to nearly a third of US data centers with permits — calculated that data center backup generators on average emit 7% of their permitted pollution limits each year. Business Insider used that percentage to estimate each county's air pollutant emissions from data center backup generators. Business Insider then input these county-by-county totals into COBRA, which models how air pollution emitted in a county affects public health nationwide. The tool assigns a dollar figure to what it would cost to avoid negative health outcomes like premature deaths, asthma attacks, heart attacks, and missed school or work days. The COBRA tool estimated that air pollutants emitted by data centers across the country could trigger nearly 20,000 asthma symptom cases a year and create a $385 million annual burden on public health. Generator pollution is more harmful to communities already overburdened by environmental pollutants. A community that already has high levels of air pollution will experience greater negative health impacts from additional pollutants, for example, than a community that isn't already saturated with harmful pollutants. To better understand their impact on these communities, Business Insider mapped all 1,240 data center locations onto a third EPA tool called EJ Screen that combines census and pollutant data within a mile radius of a specified location. We found that more than 230 data center locations were in communities highly overburdened by environmental pollutants. Finally, we reported on data centers' impact on the economy Business Insider requested and obtained the most detailed data-center-related economic development deals and annual tax incentive disclosures for facilities in and around Columbus, Ohio. Some of the oldest data center deals in the state are in Franklin and Licking counties, and companies are required to disclose how much they've saved from these tax exemption agreements each year, which made the state a useful case study for judging data centers' actual economic impact. Business Insider tallied these numbers, then used company-reported property investment totals to calculate total state and local sales and use tax savings (7.5% for Franklin County and 5.75% for Licking County). We did not include personal property tax in our calculations, as Ohio eliminated that tax. Because of fluctuations in the number of jobs employed at data centers, Business Insider also did not include state or local job creation tax credits in the analysis. We nevertheless found that these tax incentive packages given to tech companies were highly lucrative, amounting to as much as $2 million in tax savings per full time job at a data center.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New study uncovers alarming effects of AI systems on human health: 'It's a public health issue we need to address urgently'
Artificial intelligence is transforming industries, but a hidden cost is emerging: its pollution footprint could put thousands of lives at risk. A new study warns that AI-driven data centers generate significant air pollution, contributing to long-term health issues across the United States. Researchers from the University of California, Riverside and California Institute of Technology have uncovered that AI-driven data centers are fueling a surge in air pollution with major health implications. As AI demand skyrockets, these massive facilities require enormous amounts of electricity, much of it generated by dirty fuel-burning power plants and diesel backup generators. By 2030, pollution from these power sources could cause up to 1,300 premature deaths per year in the U.S., according to the study. The public health costs associated with this pollution could reach nearly $20 billion annually, with increased risks of cancer, asthma, and respiratory diseases in affected communities. "If you have family members with asthma or other health conditions, the air pollution from these data centers could be affecting them right now. It's a public health issue we need to address urgently," said UC Riverside associate professor Shaolei Ren, a corresponding author of the study. Yet despite these findings, many major tech companies do not account for air pollution data in their sustainability reports, focusing instead on carbon pollution and water usage. The harms of AI-driven pollution aren't just local — they extend far beyond the communities where data centers are built. Backup generators in Northern Virginia, for example, have been linked to air pollution that spreads across Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, adding up to $260 million in regional health costs. If pollution reaches its permitted maximum, that figure could soar to $2.6 billion per year. Do you worry about air pollution in your town? All the time Often Only sometimes Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Additionally, the study found that training AI models, such as Meta's Llama 3.1, can generate as much pollution as 10,000 round trips between Los Angeles and New York by car. As AI technology continues to expand, its pollution footprint could rival that of the U.S. steel industry and even surpass pollution from all vehicles in California. Despite these troubling statistics, solutions exist to curb AI's air pollution footprint. Stronger regulations could require tech companies to transition away from dirty fuel-based power sources and toward clean energy alternatives such as wind and solar. Policies that incentivize renewable energy adoption, such as tax breaks for clean energy-powered data centers, could make a major difference. Scientific innovation is also opening new doors. Researchers are developing methods to convert air pollution into usable fuel, turning harmful pollution into alternative energy sources. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
AI Linked to Growing Cancer Risk
As the artificial intelligence boom spirals to epic proportions, big tech companies are throwing heaps of cash into massive data centers throughout the world. Packed full of hardware to process AI queries, these data centers put out forest-melting levels of heat as they suck the life out of local energy grids and water tables to meet demand. They're incredibly noisy as well — pumping incessant mechanical sounds into quiet neighborhoods and driving away wildlife. And unfortunately, the public cost of AI doesn't end there. New research by academics at UC Riverside and Caltech is warning that AI data centers are also taking a massive toll on human health, in the form of diseases like cancer and asthma. The study, which hasn't yet been peer-reviewed, looked at the production output of AI hardware over the past five years, found that air pollution resulting from AI development could cause as many as 1,300 premature cancer and asthma deaths per year by 2030. That's on top of a cost approaching nearly $20 billion a year from the collective burden of health treatment, missing wages, and lower school attendance as a result of diseases caused by AI runoff. In 2023 alone, the total cost of AI-connected illness was $1.5 billion, the paper found, in an eye-watering 20 percent increase from 2022. The issue of air pollution is easy to overlook, because in most cases, the data centers are powered by local coal burning plants, which tend to be disproportionately located near low-income and working-class communities. It also seems wherever they go, AI data centers drive up the local cost of electricity, saddling their host communities with a burden not shared by the rest of the country, let alone by Silicon Valley or big tech's Wall Street investors. And though households living closest to AI centers and power plants face the most immediate health issues, there's no telling how far the consequences of big tech's sky-high power use will spread. "Unlike carbon emissions, the health impacts caused by a data center in one region cannot be offset by cleaner air elsewhere," UC Riverside researcher Shaolei Ren told Ars Technica of the findings. AI's air pollution impacts can be best summarized like the nuclear meltdown of Chernobyl — the deadly toxins spread far and wide with no respect for distance, affecting those in, around, and far away from the actual data center itself. "The data centers pay local property taxes to the county where they operate," Ren said in a press blurb about the study. "But this health impact is not just limited to a small community. Actually, it travels across the whole country, so those other places are not compensated at all." The authors of the study recommend tech companies adopt standard reporting procedures for air pollution and public health resulting from AI runoff — something the immensely profitable ventures are unlikely to do willingly. A range of big tech companies investing heavily in AI, including Meta and Microsoft, pushed back against the research in statements to Ars. A Google spokesperson said that the paper "promotes an inaccurate emissions estimate generated under false pretenses, undermining the progress of clean energy resource growth and creating a false narrative of health harms." In other words, this line of inquiry is getting under their skin. With the AI market set to inflate to $900 billion by 2026, communities are beginning to ask who's really paying the cost for big tech's lucrative gambit — and how much computer power we truly need to build a better world. More on AI data centers: Microsoft Backing Out of Expensive New Data Centers After Its CEO Expressed Doubt About AI Value
