Rakshita Jain
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on the atlas · 17
- Reviewing the socio-technical dynamics of AI, data centers and digitalization on energy and the environment - ScienceDirect1 savers
- 2026 Renewable Energy Industry Outlook | Deloitte Insights1 savers
- Five things to watch in the global power sector in 20261 savers
- Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy1 savers
- ‘Roadmap’ shows the environmental impact of AI data center boom | Cornell Chronicle1 savers
- AI has high data center energy costs — but there are solutions | MIT Sloan1 savers
- finding the right people - by Nix 🕊 - starting from nix13 savers
- The multifaceted challenge of powering AI | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology1 savers
- Google agrees to curb power use for AI data centers to ease strain on US grid when demand surges | Reuters1 savers
- AI Finds "Game-Changing Solution" to Curb Climate Change While Humanity Fails - Sustainability Times1 savers
- Is this how you can ensure climate justice in the age of AI? | World Economic Forum1 savers
- AI has an environmental problem. Here’s what the world can do about that.3 savers
- 10-New-Insights-in-Climate-Science-2024-Report-Final.pdf1 savers
- The Business (and Social Good) of Destroying Old Air Conditioners5 savers
- Nadia Asparouhova | Mapping out the tribes of climate37 savers
- Understanding climate as tribes, not a social cause4 savers
- Curius / Onboarding2704 savers
highlights · 101
data centers and transport
Five things to watch in the global power sector in 2026Small modular reactors (SMR) have also been gathering momentum with large investments and power purchase agreements (PPA) signed during 2025. Even when some projects are gathering momentum, it is still unlikely that we will see a final investment decision (FID) for a new SMR project during 2026.
Five things to watch in the global power sector in 2026more reactors getting lifetime extensions in the western hemisphere as this is more economical than building new projects.
Five things to watch in the global power sector in 2026Nuclear power will add close to 14 GW of new generation capacity this year, making it the largest net addition from this technology in almost 30 years. Most of the capacity will be commissioned in China, but countries such as India, Bangladesh, Türkiye and South Korea will also contribute to the growth.
Five things to watch in the global power sector in 2026The coming year will see an expansion in the deployment of storage technologies, particularly of batteries. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) capacity grew by 99 GW in 2025 to reach a total operational capacity of 241 GW. This year, growth is forecast to be even higher at 122 GW taking the operational capacity to 363 GW in 2026 representing a growth of 50%.
Five things to watch in the global power sector in 2026In 2026, generation from renewable sources is expected to reach 11,900 TWh, overtaking coal as the largest source of generation.
Five things to watch in the global power sector in 2026Integrated land use planning, with sustainable land, water, and energy practices, is the only way we can sustainably achieve the virtuous circle needed to reap the benefits of AI and the economic growth associated with it
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land Policyreduce their workloads during peak times and invest in large-scale battery backups: “There is a world in which these data centers can actually be good grid actors, where they can add more flexibility to the grid.”
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land Policyresidential batteries to supply 535 megawatts of power to the grid for two full hours at sundown.
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land PolicyA coordinated network of batteries, however —including in people’s homes and EVs—can add flexibility and stabilize the grid during times of peak demand.
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land Policyown clean power independent of the grid—Microsoft, for example, signed a 20-year agreement to purchase energy directly from the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land PolicyBut in the last six months we’ve lost a lot of the incentives for clean energy, and there’s an all-out war on wind.
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land PolicyThe things that we can do the fastest are wind, solar, and batteries
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land Policyif you put shovels in the ground for an SMR today, it’s going to take 10 years
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land Policyair-cooling technology, but this requires more energy —which may in turn increase water use indirectly, depending on the power source
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land PolicyAmerica has a well-documented addiction to green grass that is also not serving us well.
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land PolicyBy the time they reach a data center, each chip has already consumed thousands of gallons of water.
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land PolicyYouTube channel with 35 million subscribers, for example, features AI-generated music videos
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land PolicyAbout half of the electricity currently used by US data centers comes from fossil fuel power plants, which themselves use a lot of water, as they heat up steam to turn their massive turbines.
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land PolicyIn some cases, at least, major data center developers have begun to recognize this problem and are actively engaging in water replenishment where it counts.”
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land PolicyWashington, DC, for example, will still lose water supply if Northern Virginia data centers use recycled or reclaimed water, because that water won’t make it back into the Potomac River. Evaporative cooling also leaves behind high concentrations of salts and other contaminants, she adds, creating water quality issues.
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy“Each one of those buildings is using as much as a city’s worth of power, so that power infrastructure is having a huge impact on our communities. All the transmission lines that have to be built, the eminent domain used to get the land for those transmission lines, all of the energy infrastructure, gas plants, pipelines that deliver the gas, the air pollution associated with that, the climate impacts of all of that.”
Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land Policyarray of energy- and water-efficient technologies, such as advanced liquid cooling and improved server utilization, could potentially remove another 7% of carbon dioxide and lower water use by 29%, for a total water reduction of 32%
‘Roadmap’ shows the environmental impact of AI data center boom | Cornell ChronicleMidwest and “windbelt” states – particularly Texas, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota – would deliver the best combined carbon-and-water profile.
‘Roadmap’ shows the environmental impact of AI data center boom | Cornell Chroniclegrid and operational best practices, total water reductions could reach 86%
‘Roadmap’ shows the environmental impact of AI data center boom | Cornell ChronicleLocating facilities in regions with lower water-stress and improving cooling efficiency could slash water demands by about 52%
‘Roadmap’ shows the environmental impact of AI data center boom | Cornell Chronicle731 to 1,125 million cubic meters of water per year – equal to the annual household water usage of 6 to 10 million Americans.
‘Roadmap’ shows the environmental impact of AI data center boom | Cornell Chronicleby 2030, the current rate of AI growth would annually put 24 to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
‘Roadmap’ shows the environmental impact of AI data center boom | Cornell Chronicleautomatically shifted to run at different times or in different geographic zones
AI has high data center energy costs — but there are solutions | MIT Sloanautomatically adjust for variations in carbon emissions and carbon impact throughout the day
AI has high data center energy costs — but there are solutions | MIT Sloancheaper, less-robust AI models for training
AI has high data center energy costs — but there are solutions | MIT Sloan“power capping,” or limiting the amount of power feeding the processors and graphics processing units that their supercomputer foundation comprises
AI has high data center energy costs — but there are solutions | MIT Sloanincreases the requirement for aggressive cooling technologies, many of which draw from already stressed watershed areas
AI has high data center energy costs — but there are solutions | MIT Sloanhitting 21% by 2030,
AI has high data center energy costs — but there are solutions | MIT Sloancreating new analytical tools for evaluating the impact of data center deployments on the U.S. power system and for finding the most efficient ways to provide the facilities with clean energy.
The multifaceted challenge of powering AI | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technologyarchitectural designs that will use natural ventilation to facilitate cooling, equipment layouts that will permit better airflow and power distribution, and highly energy-efficient air conditioning systems based on novel materials.
The multifaceted challenge of powering AI | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technologysmall tasks that can be taken to different parts of the country, solved using clean energy, and then be brought back together
The multifaceted challenge of powering AI | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyIf a task doesn’t have to be completed immediately, but rather by a certain deadline, can it be delayed or moved to a data center elsewhere in the U.S. or overseas where electricity is more abundant, cheaper, and/or cleaner? This approach is known as ‘carbon-aware computing.
The multifaceted challenge of powering AI | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technologypurchase electricity from a startup’s fusion power plant beginning in 2028
The multifaceted challenge of powering AI | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyHow can society effectively harness AI’s potential to create a sustainable future for all?
AI Finds "Game-Changing Solution" to Curb Climate Change While Humanity Fails - Sustainability Timesextend the lifespan of modern concrete
AI Finds "Game-Changing Solution" to Curb Climate Change While Humanity Fails - Sustainability TimesCO₂ released during production is injected back into the material, forming a carbonate layer that not only stores the gas but also strengthens the concrete.
AI Finds "Game-Changing Solution" to Curb Climate Change While Humanity Fails - Sustainability Timesvirtually test thousands of formulations before real-world prototyping
AI Finds "Game-Changing Solution" to Curb Climate Change While Humanity Fails - Sustainability TimesAllegro-FM, an AI model that can simulate over four billion atoms in real time
AI Finds "Game-Changing Solution" to Curb Climate Change While Humanity Fails - Sustainability Timescarbon-neutral concrete that absorbs CO₂
AI Finds "Game-Changing Solution" to Curb Climate Change While Humanity Fails - Sustainability TimesAs we stand at the intersection of technological innovation and environmental urgency, we must ask: who benefits, who is left behind and who gets to decide?
Is this how you can ensure climate justice in the age of AI? | World Economic Forumglobally inclusive architecture for AI governance, emphasizing agility, adaptability and human rights protection
Is this how you can ensure climate justice in the age of AI? | World Economic Forumethical governance models that hold private and public actors accountable when AI-driven climate decisions cause disproportionate harms
Is this how you can ensure climate justice in the age of AI? | World Economic ForumFirst Nations are advancing data sovereignty efforts to ensure environmental modelling supports their communities, rather than enables surveillance
Is this how you can ensure climate justice in the age of AI? | World Economic Forumempower Indigenous communities with control over their data and provide training to complement AI models
Is this how you can ensure climate justice in the age of AI? | World Economic Forum