Data Centers Need New Rules to Save Energy

Data centers are huge buildings filled with thousands of computers that store information and run websites. The European Union wants to create new rules for these centers because they use too much electricity. Scientists say data centers will need twice as much power by 2030 because of artificial intelligence programs. This could hurt the environment and make electricity more expensive for everyone.

A new report from the United Nations shows how serious this problem is becoming. The report says data centers will use 945 terawatt hours of electricity by 2030. That's enough power to run the entire country of Japan for one year. Artificial intelligence programs will be responsible for 40 percent of this huge energy use.

The centers also need massive amounts of water to keep their computers cool. In 2025, they used 4.5 trillion liters of water. That's enough clean water for more than 600 million people in Africa. By 2030, they will need even more water - about 9.3 trillion liters. The pollution from data centers is also getting worse, with carbon dioxide emissions expected to reach 399 million tons.

Scientists are worried about what this means for our planet. Kaveh Madani led the research team that wrote the UN report. He explains that many people think of AI as just computer programs. But AI actually needs physical buildings, electricity, cooling systems, and lots of natural resources like water and minerals.

European leaders want to solve this problem before it gets worse. They plan to create minimum energy standards that all data centers must follow. If they don't act now, the energy problem could slow down Europe's plans to use clean energy sources. Power companies might have to keep using fossil fuel plants longer or build new ones to meet the growing demand.

The European Commission is also working on a special label for data centers. This label would show how much water and clean energy each center uses. Large data centers would have to share this information with the public. However, officials are still debating some details, like how to rate centers that use nuclear power.

These new rules are part of a bigger plan to help Europe build its own technology companies. European leaders want to reduce their dependence on big American tech companies. They also want to use AI to help approve new clean energy projects faster and manage Europe's electrical grid better.