Data centers utilizing AI are prompting a wave of new gas initiatives.
Data centers utilizing AI are prompting a wave of new gas initiatives.
The United States is at the forefront of a global increase in the construction of new gas power facilities, largely to meet the rising energy requirements of data centers. Increased gas usage corresponds with heightened greenhouse gas emissions.
Globally, gas-fired power generation under construction rose by 31 percent in 2025, with nearly a quarter of that new capacity designated for the US, which has outpaced China as the leading nation for such expansions. Over a third of this growth within the US is expected to directly serve data centers, per a recent report from the nonprofit Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
The drive to integrate more advanced hardware into growing data centers for generative AI has sparked predictions of soaring electricity demand. However, there remains significant uncertainty about whether AI will embed itself in daily life to the extent tech firms hope, and several proposed data centers may ultimately fail to materialize. Nonetheless, initiatives to increase gas power generation for AI purposes are hindering progress towards cleaner energy transitions.
“This development risks locking in future emissions and creating stranded assets if the expected demand for electricity from AI does not come to fruition,” stated Jenny Martos, project manager for GEM’s Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker, in a press announcement.
Already, 2026 is positioned to become a groundbreaking year for gas projects. If all proposed initiatives for this year reach completion, it will surpass the previous record of added capacity set in 2002. This is particularly noteworthy given that the 2000s marked America’s “shale gas revolution,” when hydraulic fracturing unlocked previously inaccessible reserves. Currently, gas is more cost-effective than coal and produces less carbon emissions when combusted. However, gas extraction emits methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, despite its shorter atmospheric lifespan.
Increasing gas electricity production diverges sharply from global climate objectives. About a decade ago, almost every nation on Earth — including the two largest greenhouse gas emitters, China and the US — endorsed a landmark agreement in Paris aimed at curbing global warming. Achieving the ambitious targets outlined in the Paris accord necessitates the substitution of fossil fuels with cleaner alternatives such as renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by approximately 2050.
However, former President Donald Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris agreement, and in 2025, US emissions of greenhouse gases increased after experiencing a decline over two years during the Biden administration. The US, the primary gas producer globally and home to the most data centers, nearly tripled its gas-fired capacity under development last year, according to the GEM report. Trump has sought to stifle climate change research and efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions, promoting reliance on oil, gas, and coal. His “AI Action Plan” emphasizes accelerating the development of new fossil fuel infrastructure for data centers.
