US data centers could consume more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined by 2035
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BloombergNEF projects that U.S. data centers could consume about 18 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2035, exceeding Germany and Japan combined and nearly doubling its forecast from nine months earlier. Data centers are expected to be the second-largest source of natural-gas demand growth over the next decade, behind LNG exports, and the forecast accounts for the fact that some announced projects will not be completed. Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have announced onsite natural-gas power plants that would bypass the grid; these facilities could use 2.9 billion to 3.4 billion cubic feet per day by 2035, roughly matching all current data-center gas consumption. BloombergNEF says onsite generation may represent only a fraction of the increase, with grid-connected data centers expected to add 15 billion cubic feet per day to power-sector demand—five times the growth from all other grid-connected sectors combined. This surge, together with rising LNG exports, could push natural-gas prices higher, while Noreva analysts warn that today’s assumption of stable prices may be misplaced and that utility customers could bear the costs even if technology companies can afford them. The International Energy Agency estimates that each cubic foot of natural gas releases the equivalent of 60 grams of carbon dioxide, including emissions from extraction, processing, and distribution. The additional data-center demand could therefore produce 1 million metric tons of extra greenhouse-gas pollution every day, which the article says is about 12% of current total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions.
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