The relentless boom in data centres and the surge in CO2 emissions that comes with them is predicted to accelerate investment in decarbonisation.
That’s according to Morgan Stanley research, which says data centres are expected to produce about 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions globally through to the end of the decade.
But the build-out of the giant computer warehouses will increase investments in clean power development, energy efficient equipment and so-called green building materials, Morgan Stanley said.
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Hyperscalers, which include Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, are driving the swift proliferation of electricity-guzzling data centres to expand their artificial intelligence and cloud computing technologies.
At the same time, the companies are holding onto pledges to slash global warming emissions from their centres by 2030.
“This creates a large market for decarbonisation solutions,” according to Morgan Stanley’s research report on Monday, which said the greenhouse gas emissions by the global data centre industry will amount to about 40% of what the entire US emits in a year.
Carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration (CCUS) technology and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) processes are also expected to get a boost as tech companies try to keep their climate promises, the report said.
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara
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