US Data Centers to Outpace Germany and Japan’s Combined Natural Gas Use by 2035, Report Finds
aiinsider ·
A BloombergNEF report projects that AI-driven data centers in the United States could consume about 18 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2035, exceeding Germany and Japan’s combined use. This estimate is nearly double the firm’s forecast from nine months earlier and would make data centers the second-strongest driver of natural-gas demand growth after LNG exports. Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have announced onsite natural-gas power plants to work around grid constraints, with those facilities expected to use up to 3.4 billion cubic feet daily by 2035. Grid-connected data centers are projected to add about 15 billion cubic feet per day, five times the growth expected from all other grid-connected sectors combined. Noreva analysts warned that data-center expansion alongside rising LNG exports could sharply increase gas prices and pressure utility ratepayers, while the International Energy Agency estimates the additional demand could produce about 1 million metric tons of extra greenhouse-gas emissions per day, equivalent to roughly 12% of current total US emissions.
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