California’s planet-warming pollution shrank by 3% in 2023, one of the largest year-over-year reductions the state has seen, according to a report by nonprofit Next 10.
The rapid growth of data centers could slow California’s clean-energy transition if it keeps the state tied to natural gas. And some of the carbon-free alternative energy sources that could meet their power needs are deeply controversial among environmentalists.
A new report from the nonpartisan research group Next 10, An Assessment of California Data Centers’ Environmental and Public Health Impacts, places context and data at the forefront of that footprint.
A new report from the nonprofit NEXT 10 and University of California Riverside found that, in 2023, data centers in California pulled 10.82 terawatt-hours of electricity — 1 terawatt equals 1 trillion watts — from the state’s grid, or about enough to power 1 million U.S. households.
A look at what’s happening in California shows that even in an environmentally progressive state, unhealthy emissions and resource depletion is a problem needing a solution, an academic report says.
Potential health impacts tied to California data center pollution tripled between 2019 and 2023, according to an analysis from University of California, Riverside researchers.
