AI boom means US is now ‘investing more’ in fossil-fuel power than China
A rapid expansion of data centres across the nation is at the heart of the
#US tech sector’s plans to continue “dominat[ing]” the global artificial intelligence (
#AI) industry.
High demand for
#electricity to power these data centres has led to companies rushing to build new gas-fired power plants across the country.
This trend, combined with “soaring” gas-turbine prices, drove a threefold increase in US gas‑power investment in 2025 – and the
#IEA expects this to continue throughout 2026.
As the chart below shows, Chinese investment in
#coal- and
#gas-fired power is expected to drop this year, amid domestic policy changes and the Iran war sending gas prices spiralling.
Together, these trends mean the IEA expects US investment in fossil-fuelled power plants to overtake China’s in 2026.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/ai-boom-means-us-is-now-investing-more-in-fossil-fuel-power-than-china/
#FossilFuels
#ClimateCrisis