10 February 2025
New data centres could undermine Europe’s energy transition, eating into its emissions cuts, study finds
Berlin, 10 February 2025 – The growth of new data centres could put a strain on Europe’s power systems, undermining its climate ambitions, according to a new study by Beyond Fossil Fuels.[1] It reveals that data centre growth in Europe is leading to a surge in power demand, posing a serious risk of escalating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)—either through expanded gas infrastructure or by pushing other sectors onto fossil fuels.
The study comes as world leaders and Big Tech CEOs meet at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit in Paris to discuss the impacts of the sector on society, economy and the environment [2]. It estimates that electricity demand of data centers in Europe could rise by up to 160% by 2030 reaching 287 TWh. This is more than Spain’s total electricity consumption in 2022.[3] The study explores implications for emissions whether this growth in electricity demand is met largely by fossil fuels or with additional renewable energy.
Jill McArdle, International Corporate Campaigner, Beyond Fossil Fuels, said:
“At a time when Europe’s power system operators are working to meet the demands of the energy transition and Europe’s climate objectives, additional electricity requirements from new data centre growth could be a real challenge. If the data centre growth relies on fossil gas, it will fuel the climate crisis. To prevent this, expansion must go hand in hand with the buildout of additional renewable energy. If tech companies cannot bring their demand growth in line with climate science—it must be limited.”
Jerry MacEvilly, Head of Policy Change, Friends of the Earth Ireland, said:
“This research should be a wake-up call for decision-makers that the concept of sustainable and limitless growth for data centers is a myth. Already in Ireland, data centres are projected to reach 30% of electricity demand by 2030, growing way faster than the renewable energy procured to meet their needs, and connecting to the gas network to get around constraints in the power network. These findings at EU level and in Ireland underline the need for a reality check on Big Tech and for new dedicated EU policy to regulate the demand and prevent gas lock-in for new data centres.”
The report estimates the growth in electricity demand from new data centres and resulting GHG emissions under two different hypotheses of energy sourcing, considering both low and high energy demand.
If the energy needs of the new data centres were to be met largely by fossil gas, this would have detrimental consequences for people and the climate. Annual emissions of newly added data centers in the EU could reach 39 million tons of CO2 in 2030—more than the combined annual emissions of Lithuania and Estonia (2022 levels).[4]
Cumulatively, new data centers could emit 121 million tons of CO2-equivalent in the coming 6 years. This equates to half of Germany’s 2030 CO2-equivalent planned emission cuts across all sectors.[5]
The extra demand for electricity from data centres must be met with renewable energy—not fossil fuels—to avoid exacerbating the climate crisis. But if new data centres eat into renewable energy already planned for other sectors of the economy, the result will be to slow down the efforts of these other industries to decarbonise, pushing up emissions.
The report follows the publication of a joint call by more than 100 civil society organisations urging policymakers and leaders to acknowledge AI’s environmental harms.[6]
Pierre Terras, Corporate Programme Lead, Beyond Fossil Fuels, said:
“Powering new data centres cannot cost us the climate. What we need is climate intelligence. Big Tech must bring its power-hungry data centres in line with renewable energy capacity and the planet’s limits or it should not build them at all.”
END
CONTACTS
Jill McArdle, International Corporate Campaigner, Beyond Fossil Fuels, [email protected], Mobile +32 456 723 993
Pierre Terras, Corporate Programme Lead, Beyond Fossil Fuels, [email protected] , mobile +33 646 90 21 04
NOTES
[1] BFF’s report: SYSTEM OVERLOAD: How new data centres could throw Europe’s energy transition off course
[2] The Artificial Intelligence Summit is hosted at the Grand Palais in Paris, 10-11 February.
[3] https://ember-energy.org/data/electricity-data-explorer/
[4] Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), European Commission Joint Research Centre, Report 2023
[5] Germany’s Federal Climate Protection Act (KSG), Source: BGBl. 2024 I No. 235, p. 7
[6] Civil society joint statement “Within Bounds: Limiting AI’s environmental impact”, February 2025.
ABOUT:
Beyond Fossil Fuels is a collective civil society campaign committed to ensuring all of Europe’s electricity is generated from fossil-free, renewable energy by 2035. It expands and builds upon the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, and its goal of a coal-free Europe in power and heat by 2030 at the latest. www.beyondfossilfuels.org