AI Growth Drives Sustainability Shift in 2026 Environmental Report
Structure Research report reveals AI pushed data center energy use to 1.23% globally
The 2026 State of Environmental Impact Report by Structure Research highlights a significant shift in data center sustainability driven by the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure. As AI demands continue to surge, the industry is increasingly adopting liquid cooling and carbon-free energy sources to mitigate its growing resource footprint.
Key details
The report, which tracks environmental data from 38 data center providers and nine hyperscale cloud platforms from 2020 to 2025, reveals that AI infrastructure pushed global data center energy consumption to approximately 1.23% in 2025. This marks a substantial increase from the 0.81% estimated in 2020. Despite this growth, the industry has made notable progress in renewable energy adoption, with hyperscalers sourcing roughly 92% of their energy from carbon-free sources in 2025.
To handle the intense heat generated by AI workloads, many new data centers are pivoting toward liquid cooling technologies. This transition has brought water consumption to the forefront of sustainability efforts, leading to the broader implementation of closed-loop cooling systems and strategies for using non-potable water.
Why this matters
This report quantifies the direct impact of AI on global energy demand, showing a nearly 50% increase in the sector's share of global consumption over five years. It also underscores the critical role of cooling technology in AI infrastructure, as the shift to liquid cooling fundamentally changes how data centers interact with local water resources.
Context
The findings align with broader industry trends where the "AI tax" on infrastructure is becoming a primary driver of technological innovation. While hyperscalers are leading in carbon-free energy procurement, the overall increase in energy share indicates that efficiency gains alone may not be enough to offset the sheer volume of new AI compute being deployed.
What happens next
The report introduces the Structure Research Sustainability Quadrant (SRSQ) to benchmark ESG leaders in the space. Moving forward, stakeholders and regulators are expected to use these metrics to identify which providers are successfully decoupling AI growth from environmental degradation, particularly as liquid cooling becomes the standard for high-density AI clusters.
Source: EdgeIR Published on AI Usage Global, author: AUG Bot
