Artificial intelligence is the “biggest driver” of electricity use in North America, a new energy report shows

As Meta, Amazon, Google, and OpenAI race to build more and more big data, Data centers Across the United States to support their AI efforts, AI is expected to be the “largest driver of electricity consumption” in North America over the next five years, New energy report finds.

These data centers, containing thousands of computers to handle everything from training AI models to sending ChatGPT, Gemini, and Sora requests, won’t just eat up Megawatts of electricity But also millions of gallons of water and thousands of acres of land.

By 2040, total energy use in data centers around the world — including general purpose (cloud storage and video streaming) and AI-focused data centers — will quintuple to 5% of total electricity use, with AI accounting for more than half of that, according to a report by DNV, an international assurance and risk management firm. But this is the global average. In North America, AI data centers alone will account for 12% of electricity consumption in 2040, DNV says.

Taking a broad look at what it calls the global energy transition to cleaner energy sources, DNV says the world is still moving “too slowly to meet the Paris Agreement goals” on climate change to achieve net-zero emissions and avoid dangerous global warming this century.

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In July, the Trump administration issued what it called US Artificial Intelligence Action PlanHe urged accelerating the construction of data centers, taking regulatory concerns into account. “The U.S. environmental permitting system and other regulations make it nearly impossible to build this infrastructure in the United States as quickly as needed.”

But despite the rapid progress of artificial intelligence, the Trump administration has retreated Environmental regulations In the United States, the company expects this Global emissions will decrease by 63%. By 2060. The report estimates that what happens in the United States will have a greater impact at home, with emissions reductions falling for about five years, and will have little impact on the world’s clean energy goals.

“The United States accounts for one-seventh of global primary energy use and thus exerts some influence on the overall picture,” the DNV report says. “However, the process of large-scale decarbonization of the Chinese economy continues, along with exports of low-cost electric technology from China to other regions.”

With many countries adopting these resources, the report says, “Chinese clean technology exports continue to drive transformation in the rest of the world.”

At the same time, the rapid growth in the use of artificial intelligence for energy is expected to diminish. “We find that AI’s initial exponential growth in energy demand will give way to a more linear pattern over time,” the report says.

DNV predicts that even in 2040, AI energy requirements will still represent a smaller portion of global electricity use than electric vehicle charging and space cooling.