By @UN_News_Centre
Publication Date: 2026-01-17 05:01:00
The global demand for electricity is growing rapidly. An increase of more than 10,000 terawatt hours is expected by 2035, equivalent to the total consumption of all advanced economies today.
The rise of artificial intelligence plays a major role here: AI technology is operated by data centers and the electricity consumption of a medium-sized data center is equivalent to that of 100,000 households. According to the International Energy Agency, demand for data centers increased by more than three-quarters between 2023 and 2024 and is expected to account for over 20 percent of electricity demand growth in advanced economies by 2030.
In the United States, where many of the leading AI companies are based, the electricity consumption of AI-driven computing is expected to exceed the combined electricity consumption of aluminum, steel, cement and chemical production combined by the end of the decade.
Last December, policymakers, technology…
