{"id":531,"date":"2025-12-17T21:32:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stspgcustomer.com\/?p=531"},"modified":"2025-12-24T09:14:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T09:14:05","slug":"the-hidden-carbon-and-water-footprint-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stspgcustomer.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/the-hidden-carbon-and-water-footprint-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"The hidden carbon and water footprint of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

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AI systems may now have a carbon footprint equivalent to that of New York City in 2025, while their water footprint could be in the range of the global annual consumption of bottled water.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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After previously estimating the global power demand of AI systems<\/a> in 2023, 2024 and 2025, my latest research<\/a>\u2014published open access in the journal Patterns<\/em>\u2014now provides further insights into the carbon emissions and water consumption related to that power demand. Determining these metrics is a challenge, as “such estimates are complicated by the fact that data center operators do not publicly disclose the required inputs.” The new article highlights the shortcomings in the environmental disclosure of data center operators, in particular with regard to indirect water consumption of data centers and AI-specific metrics. Using the limited information that is available, the article finds that:<\/p>\n