The AI data centre boom is becoming a significant factor in water shortages and power outages, with the technology adding to the energy-grid stress caused by things like electric vehicles and air conditioning. With electricity demand soaring, solar and wind power are the best solutions for building out more capacity quickly. But AI’s thirst needs different solutions.
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REFERENCES:
NYT on data centre water outages and power cuts https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/technology/ai-data-center-backlash-mexico-ireland.html
Guardian on Arizona data centre protests https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/tucson-arizona-ai-data-center-project-blue
James Ball on AI’s current environmental impact https://www.transformernews.ai/p/ai-energy-water-use-environment-argument-wrong
Visual Capitalist chart on data centre boom https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-the-growth-of-global-data-center-capacity-2005-2025/
My Fortune article on the nuclear industry’s AI hopes https://fortune.com/2024/11/21/tech-nuclear-energy-google-microsoft-amazon-ai/
