As India and other digital economies race to expand data capacity for AI, cloud computing and digital streaming, the environmental footprint of data centres is growing just as fast.

In 2022 alone, these centres consumed an estimated 240–340 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity worldwide, a figure projected to double by 2026. Globally, they already consume as much energy as the aviation industry and are set to double their electricity demand by 2030. As per the International Energy Agency (IEA), these centres accounted for 1–1.5 per cent of global electricity consumption in 2022, with forecasts of this figure doubling by 2030.

Anup Garg, Founder and Director of World of Circular Economy (WOCE), added that unlike traditional manufacturing facilities, which primarily emit through direct fuel combustion and process-related activities, data centres operate on a high-intensity, round-the-clock energy model.

They consume 10 to 50 times more electricity per square foot than standard industrial facilities, mostly due to continuous IT load and cooling requirements. This gives them a larger environmental footprint relative to their physical size.

“Energy consumption poses the most immediate and significant environmental risk. Studies show that only 6–12 per cent of the centre’s energy is for actual computation, with the majority supporting cooling, idle infrastructure, and redundancy systems,” Aveekshith Bushan, Vice-President & General Manager, Aerospike, said.

He added this imbalance is mainly due to infrastructural waste -- too much hardware, underutilised servers and legacy systems built for peak demand instead of real needs. As a result, energy is wasted not just during computing, but throughout the entire facility.

Total power consumption

Amit Chaurasia, Data Infrastructure Expert, Founder and CEO of Dataneers, argued the total power consumption by data centres is less than 3 per cent of the total consumption, and is projected to be around 5 per cent by 2030 in India. Even carbon emissions are expected to stay under 10 per cent of national totals. Data centres indirectly help reduce emissions by lowering the need for paper, travel, and physical infrastructure, especially with the rise of remote work.

“Water consumption is more colossal in other industries compared to data centres. The component majorly impacting data is the cooling systems, but even those concerns are mitigated with modern chip and system designs, which are squeezing more computing power per watt. Large hyperscalers like Google Cloud are also racing towards zero-carbon emission data centres,” Chaurasia observed.

India’s challenge is sharper, with capacity growing at a 40 per cent CAGR and power demand set to reach 5 GW, all while relying heavily on fossil fuels.

The country accounts for around 20 per cent of global data production, while hosting just 3 per cent of the world’s data centre capacity, underscoring the need for infrastructure-level efficiency, and not just renewable energy adoption.

Infra design

While water use and e-waste are rising concerns, especially in hyper-scale facilities, the root problem remains inefficient infrastructure design.

A main source of emissions is inefficient data architecture, especially systems that demand large memory footprints, excess compute power, and overprovisioned hardware just to maintain baseline performance.

Systems that minimise excess servers, improve data flow, and cut down on wasted computing power are key to lowering emissions. Companies using efficient, real-time data platforms that run well on fewer machines are already saving both money and energy, Bushan added.

According to the WOCE founder, a range of forward-looking solutions are gaining traction—from integrating renewable energy through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to adopting AI-driven energy optimisation systems.

Advanced cooling methods like liquid and immersion cooling are helping reduce both electricity and water use, while modular, low-impact architectural designs are reshaping how data centres are built. Circular economy strategies—such as server reuse, recycling, and lifecycle assessments—are also becoming more prominent. As regulations tighten and stakeholder expectations rise, such innovations are poised to become industry norms.

Published on June 23, 2025