World Economic Forum
Summary
Every industrial age delivers its own plot twist. The 19th century had steam, the 20th had oil, and the early 21st was supposed to be defined by a harmonious rise of clean energy and digital transformation. Instead, a new character has entered the story with disruptive force: the artificial intelligence-era data centre. What was once an invisible backend of the digital economy has become one of the most powerful drivers of global electricity demand, and an unmissable risk for leaders setting intention at the beginning of the year.
Across Europe, billions are spent annually to heat homes with gas and other fuels. At the same time, data centres, which operate continuously, vent enormous quantities of low-temperature heat into the sky. In London, research suggests that as much as 1.6 TWh of heat from data centres could be recovered each year, enough to warm half a million homes. Across Europe, the theoretical potential is 221 TWh per year, or 12% of EU district-heating demand. The infrastructure exists. The heat exists. The urban demand exists. What doesn’t exist is the policy coordination to connect the dots.
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