Structure Research says AI growth is driving a data center sustainability shift
Structure Research, an independent digital infrastructure research and consulting firm published its 2026 State of Environmental Impact Report.
The report tracks developments from 2020-2025 with metrics such as carbon emissions, energy consumption, renewable energy use, and water consumption from reported environmental data from 38 data center providers and nine hyperscale cloud platforms.
In 2025, AI infrastructure pushed global energy consumption in data centers to about ~1.23% (by comparison, global energy consumption was estimated to be around 0.81% in 2020).
The industry shows progress in efficiency and renewable energy adoption, with hyperscalers sourcing ~92% of energy from carbon-free sources in 2025.
As new data centers relied on liquid cooling to enable AI, water consumption became an issue leading to the implementation of closed-loop systems and non-potable water usage strategies.
The report showcases the latest Structure Research Sustainability Quadrant (SRSQ), which aims to benchmark ESG leaders and is aimed at multiple stakeholders interested in identifying the environmental impact of data centers and digital infrastructure.
A complimentary copy of the report can be downloaded here.
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AI infrastructure | data centers | environmental impact | research report | Structure Research | sustainability
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