New Gas-Powered Data Centers Could Emit More Greenhouse Gases Than Whole Nations

New gas projects linked to just 11 data center campuses around the US have the potential to create more greenhouse gases than the country of Morocco emitted in 2024. Emissions estimates from air permit documents examined by WIRED show that these natural gas projects—which are being built to power data centers to serve some of the US’s most powerful AI companies, including OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and xAI—have the potential to emit more than 129 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.

As tech companies race to secure massive power deals to build out hundreds of data centers across the country, these projects represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential climate cost of the AI boom.

The infrastructure on this list of large natural gas projects reviewed by WIRED is being developed to largely bypass the grid and provide power solely for data centers, a trend known as behind-the-meter power. As data center developers face long waits for connections to traditional utilities, and amid mounting public resistance to the possibility of higher energy bills, making their own power is becoming an increasingly popular option. These projects have either been announced or are under construction, with companies already submitting air permit application materials with state agencies.

Michael Thomas, the founder of clean energy research firm Cleanview, has been tracking gas permits for data centers across the country. He calls behind-the-meter power “a crazy acceleration of emissions.”

One of the first—and most notorious—examples on this list is in Memphis, Tennessee. xAI made national headlines in 2024 after it began to set up gas turbines at its first data center campus in the city, Colossus 1, to quickly develop Grok, its AI. Community members living in the low-income Black community around the campus, concerned about air pollution, rallied to protest the turbines.

xAI’s gas turbines also represent what could be a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Air permit applications for both the Colossus campus in Memphis and the nearby Colossus 2 campus in Southaven show that the turbines on each campus could generate more than 6.4 million tons of CO2 equivalents at each site per year. Combined, that’s roughly equivalent to the emissions from more than 30 average-size natural gas plants, or enough energy to power 1.5 million homes.

Microsoft, meanwhile, is reportedly looking into purchasing power from a Chevron-backed natural gas project in West Texas. That single project, according to its permit, could emit more than 11.5 million tons of greenhouse gases each year—more than the yearly emissions of the entire country of Jamaica.

“Microsoft takes a portfolio approach to energy, leveraging a range of solutions to meet reliability needs while continuing to invest in carbon-free electricity,” Melanie Nakagawa, the chief sustainability officer at Microsoft, told WIRED in a statement.

Energy researcher Jon Koomey estimates that while emissions from efficient grid-connected gas plants could be 40 to 50 percent of the permitted numbers, data center emissions could be much closer to what is modeled on the permit, given that they don’t have to respond to customer demand.

Gas projects developed as part of the Stargate Project, a massive, multicompany AI effort originally started to build out infrastructure for OpenAI, also represent a potential emissions bombshell. Permit documents for just three Stargate-affiliated natural gas projects show that they have a combined potential to emit more than 24 million tons of greenhouse gases each year.