估算美国超大规模数据中心碳排放，揭示其能源消耗与环境影响。
Assessing the Carbon Emissions and Energy Consumption of U.S. Hyperscale Data Centers
- 基于403个数据中心的设施级数据，结合最新电网数据估算能耗与排放。
- 年耗电68-99太瓦时，碳排放37-5400万吨，碳强度比全国平均高48%。
- 适合关注绿色计算、可持续数据中心和政策制定的研究者与从业者。
美国超大规模数据中心（HDCs）的快速扩张，主要由人工智能应用驱动，引发了对其环境足迹的担忧。我们收集了2024年5月至2025年4月期间运营的403个美国超大规模数据中心的设施级信息，估算其电力消耗、电力来源及相应的二氧化碳排放。在不同负载情景下，这些数据中心年耗电量约为68-99太瓦时，关联碳排放约37-5400万吨。在基准情景下，数据中心电力需求约占美国总电力消费的1.8%，其中约54%的发电来自化石燃料。数据中心的电力加权平均碳强度约为545克二氧化碳/千瓦时，比同期美国全国电网平均碳强度370克二氧化碳/千瓦时高出约48%。本研究方法利用最新的美国环保署eGRID电厂级数据，提供了一种评估超大规模数据中心环境足迹的归因工具。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
The rapid proliferation of hyperscale data centers (HDCs) in the US, mainly driven by the adoption of artificial intelligence, has raised concerns about this industry's environmental footprint. We compiled facility-level information on 403 US hyperscale data centers operating between May 2024 and April 2025 and estimated their electricity consumption, electricity sources, and attributable CO2 emissions. Across different facility-load scenarios, these HDCs consumed approximately 68-99 TWh of electricity and were associated with about 37-54 million metric tons of CO2. Under the central scenario, HDC electricity demand corresponded to approximately 1.8% of total US electricity consumption, with roughly 54% of attributed generation supplied by fossil-fuel sources. The HDC electricity-weighted average carbon intensity was approximately 545 gCO2/kWh, about 48% above the contemporaneous US national grid-average carbon intensity of 370 gCO2/kWh. Our approach provides an attributional tool for assessing the environmental footprint of hyperscale data centers using the most recent EPA eGRID plant-level data.
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