Managing data centre energy and water use in the AI era
Managing data centre energy and water use in the AI era
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/06/build-data-centres-future-sustainable/
Publish Date: 2026-06-17 05:41:00
Source Domain: www.weforum.org
- The surge in artificial intelligence (AI) use is being supported by the expanding data centre infrastructure, which is necessitating significant resource allocations such as energy and water.
- To handle this growth, there is a need to re-engineer data centre design to minimize inefficiencies and energy wastage, as they play a crucial part in AI’s advancement.
- The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions (also known as ‘Summer Davos’ in China) is focusing on how breakthrough ideas can scale to impactful stages, emphasizing the importance of rethinking data centre designs that would enable a future-fit AI infrastructure without adverse environmental impacts.
- The data centre sector is projected to grow at a 14% compound annual rate till 2030 and will require $3 trillion in investment, presenting both opportunities and social and political concerns, alongside the massive amounts of energy and water they consume.
- Three effective strategies to tackle the energy challenges inherent to data centres include liquid cooling and heat reuse, co-locating with renewable energy sources, and using predictive optimization software to preemptively address such issues including overheating.
- To truly move towards sustainable data centres, it’s essential to integrate advanced methodologies and technologies, including rethinking traditional data centre design to optimize energy efficiency, which includes addressing outdated infrastructure and manual processes.
- The use of thermal-based spatial intelligence in data centres enables real-time insight on energy consumption and heat output, enabling more strategic planning and energy optimization.
- To create a sustainable future, it’s imperative to optimize data centre infrastructure for energy efficiency, creating a balance between necessary AI-driven innovations and environmental conservation.
