Pathways for Sustainable AI Servers in the USA

Provided by: Nature |Published on: April 28, 2026

Scientific Reports

1112AP

Scientist Reviewed ↗

Synopsis

This report explains the impacts of AI data centers on water, energy use, and climate change, and makes suggestions for minimizing these impacts.
Students will learn about data limitations due to unreliable reporting, the influence of renewable energy deployment, and how the location of a data center can have an impact on its environmental footprint.

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Subjects: Engineering

Authors: Tianqi Xiao, Francesco Fuso Nerini, H. Damon Matthews, Massimo Tavoni, and Fengqi You

Region: United States

Languages: English

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Teaching Materials

Positives

This report considers many factors that influence the environmental impacts of AI data centers.
The many graphs, maps, and data visualizations support students in understanding the written content.

Prerequisites

This report is best suited for students who have some prior knowledge of data centers' energy and water usage, climate change and its impacts, and water scarcity concerns.

Differentiation & Implementation

After reading the article, students can use the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator to compare emissions from AI data centers to something familiar, like driving a car.
Some students may benefit from having a note sheet on hand to keep track of unknown terms and unfamiliar initialisms (such as PUE and WUE) that are used throughout the report.
After reading, students can discuss options for incentivizing AI companies to work with third-party and governmental groups to monitor their impacts and prioritize public well-being over private profits.

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Pathways for Sustainable AI Servers in the USA

Synopsis

Teaching Materials

Scientist Reviewed

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