← on nowLGR-041 · v0.1.0 · model · estimate data centres: how much, per second and per year
data centres · this page is running in one
electricity used, kilowatt-hours
415 billion
a year
13,151
a second
1.1 billion
a day
water evaporated to cool them
?
no ledger. most companies do not report it. one us estimate: seventeen billion gallons a year, in one country, direct use only.
method IEA 2025 Energy and AI: 415 TWh in 2024, ~945 TWh projected 2030; water from LBNL 2024 US report.
- about one and a half percent of the world’s electricity now, and the fastest-growing use of it. the projection is more than double by 2030, mostly for ai.source: IEA 2025 Energy and AI; LBNL 2024
- the ledger’s own share is small and not zero. it is not exempt from itself.source: methodology note
live. this is the channel itself. embed it anywhere:
<iframe src="https://thetoll.earth/?channel=data%20centres" width="100%" height="520" style="border:1px solid #D9DDDB" title="the toll · data centres"></iframe>
or the whole broadcast, every channel, the same for everyone:
<iframe src="https://thetoll.earth/?embed=1" width="100%" height="520" style="border:1px solid #D9DDDB" title="the toll · on now, everywhere"></iframe>
how this number is built
- method
- IEA 2025 Energy and AI: 415 TWh in 2024, ~945 TWh projected 2030; water from LBNL 2024 US report.
- range
- 400–450 TWh/yr; water: US only, direct only
- confidence
- estimate
- weakness
- changing fast; the number should be a feed within a year. the site's own footprint is not measured, only acknowledged.
- dispute
- dispute LGR-041 · corrections are credited
- data
- channels.json (sign-in) · full entry · CC BY 4.0