{"id":50865,"date":"2025-12-15T05:41:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/?p=50865"},"modified":"2025-12-15T07:19:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T13:19:23","slug":"what-we-dont-know-yet-environmental-impacts-of-data-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/what-we-dont-know-yet-environmental-impacts-of-data-centers\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Don\u2019t Know (Yet)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI’m researching the environmental impacts and opportunities of data centers in the U.S.,\u201d I type into ChatGPT. \u201cPlease compile three concerns, three innovations, and a list of active research related to data centers and the environment.\u201d

Send<\/em>. 

The words are translated<\/a> and beamed to a massive data center, location unknown. The model reads it, builds a response, retranslates it, and shoots it back.

In 16 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNice \u2014 good, timely beat,\u201d Chat responds, followed by an organized list of 30 links. My research time shrank from hours to seconds \u2014 a win for productivity. But \u2026 Chat\u2019s detailed response may have required up to a bottle of water<\/a> to cool the processing equipment. But <\/em>\u2026 <\/em>by working more efficiently, my computer used less energy.

For every pro, there\u2019s a con. The environmental impacts of AI \u2014 specifically the data centers used to power it \u2014 is a growing topic of conversation between community members, policymakers, and tech companies. How can we support the need for AI data centers while also maintaining sustainable, resilient communities and landscapes? It\u2019s tough to set policy and parameters without data-driven, peer-reviewed evidence. It\u2019s harder yet to publish relevant research with such rapidly changing technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Network\n\n\n\n
Network cables connected to server racks in data center room. Photo courtesy of iStock \/ P. Nikomkai<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like you, experts at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison have questions \u2014 lots of them. What don\u2019t <\/em>we know about how AI and data centers will impact our planet? Can we create a framework for a net-positive, data-driven world? As data centers break ground and technology advances daily, researchers are on a race against the clock. Go inside the minds of five interdisciplinary scholars as they share their most pressing questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Connector: Land and Resource Integration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Horacio Aguirre-Villegas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientist III
Expertise: Life cycle assessment, waste management, agricultural sustainability<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All data centers start with the same need: land. Smaller centers are infiltrating urban areas, taking up warehouses, empty buildings, and even old malls. But AI-supporting large-scale campuses need flat, cheap acreage by the thousands. \u201cUsually, that\u2019s prime agricultural area,\u201d says Horacio Aguirre-Villegas, a researcher in the Nelson Institute and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. With a background in agriculture and systems-thinking, Aguirre-Villegas wonders, \u201cHow do you integrate this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s well documented that these mega data centers use a lot of energy<\/a>. On the other hand, dairy farms with digesters<\/a> \u2014 systems that turn manure into energy \u2014 often produce more energy than the farm can use, Aguirre-Villegas notes. What if a data center was built next to that farm and purchased its excess energy, at a premium, to partially power the campus? In return, what overflow resources do data centers have that could support neighboring farmers? One example, says Aguirre-Villegas, is heat. \u201cThey need to cool all these servers, and all that heat is being wasted, right into the atmosphere,\u201d he explains. If the farm next-door could capture that, it could theoretically heat greenhouses through winter \u2014 or help power the digester, which then feeds energy right back to the center, creating a circular system. Plus, fewer emissions would be released into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aguirre-Villegas, alongside Becky Larson, professor of environmental studies at the Nelson Institute, is taking steps to see if these ideas could work. \u201cLike with everything else, there\u2019s a need for resources to dedicate to these types of analysis,\u201d he says. \u201c[Tech companies] have the money \u2026 they could have an impact in communities around them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Activist: Infrastructure and Community Consent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel Shapiro<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environment and Resources PhD Student
Expertise: Energy justice, transmission lines<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what if communities simply aren\u2019t interested in hosting AI data centers? Gabriel Shapiro, a PhD student in the Nelson Institute and the Department of Geography, is researching intersections of community resistance and energy infrastructure. He\u2019s specifically interested in resistance to the transmission lines required to power AI data centers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\"\"\n\n\n\n

In tracking community resistance to data center projects, Shapiro is noticing a pattern: decisions are happening without community input or approval. In Port Washington, Wisconsin, residents have vocally opposed a $15 billion, 2,000-acre<\/a> data center campus. The common council approved it anyway, and it\u2019s currently moving forward with construction. \u201cThe problem is not that comments weren\u2019t gathered \u2014 thousands were. It\u2019s that they had no effect on the outcome,\u201d Shapiro wrote in an op-ed for The Cap Times<\/em><\/a>. For Shapiro, this raises a larger question about democracy, accountability, and transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sees this lack of transparency in transmission line proposals, too. In October, American Transmission Co. applied for a $1.4 billion transmission line<\/a> that would span 90 miles and five counties. The need? \u201cTo serve a new large load addition in the Port Washington area,\u201d the application says<\/a>. (The Port Washington data center is expected to use 1.3 gigawatts of energy. That\u2019s enough to power over 1 million Wisconsin homes, reports Clean Wisconsin<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Transmission<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

People in communities along the proposed line, including along its planned backup route, have been uniting to speak out against the project. They\u2019re creating websites<\/a>, forming coalitions<\/a>, and contacting local news outlets<\/a>. \u201cCommunities don\u2019t get to choose. We don\u2019t get a catalog of industrial projects,\u201d Shapiro says. \u201cThey get this power line, and it gets stuffed down their throat.\u201d Not to mention, he adds, \u201cwe don’t know exactly how the costs are going to be distributed for the transmission line.\u201d

This story isn\u2019t necessarily new. A wealthy, global company approaches a small, rural town, promising jobs and economic growth. \u201cI think data centers are the next thing in a long line of things that small-town mayors have looked to as ways to stimulate the tax base, build the local economy, and bring jobs in,\u201d he says. But a data center? \u201cPeople are just not seeing it as worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cautious Optimist: Biodiversity Cobenefits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"James<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

James Crall<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assistant Professor, Entomology
Expertise: Pollinators, agroecology<\/em>

If AI data centers are poised to reshape our landscapes and energy bills, what benefits could they offer us? For James Crall, a research affiliate in the Nelson Institute\u2019s Center for Ecology and the Environment and an assistant professor in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the potential for AI to monitor and support biodiversity is \u201cenormous.\u201d 

Have you ever learned about a bird on the Merlin app, or identified a wildflower on iNaturalist? That\u2019s AI, and it takes data processing. Every species logged in a \u201ccitizen science\u201d app is a win for biodiversity, argues Crall. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the best resources for biodiversity monitoring.\u201d 

Hyperscale data center campuses may also have the potential to boost biodiversity monitoring, Crall says. By partnering with a data center before it\u2019s built, scientists could get a rare \u201cbefore and after\u201d look at how a campus changes insect biodiversity. This could also have positive impacts on neighboring communities. \u201cCan we monitor not only a native habitat on the campus it\u2019s impact on pollinators,\u201d he asks, \u201cbut also understand how those biodiversity impacts (like pollination) \u2018spill over\u2019 into adjacent landscapes?\u201d Crall has more than a decade of experience using automated monitoring systems<\/a> to address these kinds of questions.

He’s also curious about the investment in large-scale solar to power data center campuses. Could those arrays become sites for studying how insects and pollinators respond to \u201chigh-use, heavily managed landscapes?\u201d His lab has already developed a framework for this, using the UW\u2019s Kegonsa Research Campus<\/a> and its agrivoltaics<\/a> array. If agricultural and native landscapes are converted into solar fields to power more data centers, \u201ccan we make those not only have the climate mitigating impacts through getting renewable energy, but also directly benefit biodiversity by providing habitat and microclimate refugia?\u201d 

Picturing a nationwide data center landscape, Crall asks, \u201cCould these all be centers of standardized, long-term biodiversity monitoring? That’d be a real boon to the field of insect biodiversity to even just understand population status and trends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Protector: Justice and Sovereignty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Jones<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environment and Resources PhD Candidate
Expertise: Energy justice, Indigenous rights<\/em>

If AI-powered apps and integrated hyperscale data center campuses could reshape biodiversity monitoring globally, what are the downsides? Jennifer Jones, a PhD candidate in the Nelson Institute, is exploring the intersection of AI data centers and Tribal lands. Can something extractive by nature \u2014 not just in collecting data, but using mass quantities of natural resources \u2014 ever pair with communities whose values are centered around stewarding and protecting the land?

Jones, who is Din\u00e9\/Navajo, is focusing her dissertation on energy justice \u2014 specifically AI-driven data centers and Tribal communities. While community-integrated, sustainable, and net-positive data centers are intriguing, she\u2019s curious about the larger implications of building data centers on Tribal lands. At the MTERA (Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association) Summit<\/a> in October, Jones listened to developers pitching data centers \u2014 small and large \u2014 as the next big thing for economic development within Tribal communities: \u201cyour next casino opportunity,\u201d they said. \u201cIf a business is coming to this community and saying, \u2018Hey, we’ll give you billions of dollars to build this infrastructure and lease the land for us,\u2019 there’s a big red flag for me,\u201d Jones says. \u201cOur communities thrive on working for each other, working with<\/em> the land. And this perspective of ownership of land, once again, goes in conflict with that.\u201d

In the United States, private industry has a long history of seeking Tribal lands for building infrastructure projects like pipelines and coal plants. \u201cTribal lands have been sought after for energy generation, like coal and uranium mining. Yet, like many underrepresented communities, they are among the last to be connected to electricity,\u201d she says. Jones references the Navajo Generating Station in her community, which operated from 1974 through 2019. After struggling to keep up with environmental regulations, utility providers voted to close the plant<\/a> \u2014 which had provided 700-plus jobs and millions in revenue to the Navajo Nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the plant shut down, there were still 25 years left on the operator\u2019s initial agreement to the tribes. Not only was the community left with a revenue loss, they also had thousands of acres of land to remediate on their own. Jones fears a parallel with AI-driven data centers. What happens to the community if the company ceases operations? What happens to the land when the technology advances and hyperscale campuses aren\u2019t needed anymore?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the process of energy development, there have been interactions with Tribes that have minimized our sovereign decision-making and rights,\u201d Jones says. \u201cIf there have not been improvements in equitable regulatory practices, I worry that the same process of extractive power plants will continue with AI data center developers\u2019 desire to site projects on or near Tribal lands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Negotiator: Power and Accountability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Julia Towne<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental Conservation MS Student
Expertise: Community conservation, tech industry<\/em>

For Julia Towne, an environmental conservation master\u2019s student in the Nelson Institute, the starting point is clear: AI data centers should strengthen communities, not undermine them. And from her experience, communities hold a lot more bargaining power than they think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\"\"\n\n\n\n

Towne spent three decades inside Google and Microsoft with a front-row seat to the negotiation dynamics that communities are facing with data center developers. Today, she uses that expertise to help communities protect their land, budgets, and long-term resilience as the data center boom accelerates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with who holds the cards. \u201cIf a company has chosen your land, your power grid, your water, and your location, that means the community already holds the strongest cards,\u201d Towne says. \u201cInstead of defaulting to tax breaks or concessions, local leaders should insist on binding protections \u2014 community-benefit agreements<\/a>, impact fees<\/a>, and enforceable environmental standards that create real, measurable value for residents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond helping communities strike deals to mitigate effects, Towne also stresses the need for communities to plan for the full life cycle of a data center. The first computer took up 1,800 square feet<\/a>. Today, you\u2019re probably wearing one on your wrist or carrying one in your pocket. What happens when the tech improves and data centers don\u2019t need 1,000-acre campuses? Will communities be left with empty buildings and unusable land?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA data center\u2019s life cycle is short, but its environmental footprint can last decades,\u201d Towne cautions. \u201cAbandonment or recovery bonds are essential \u2014 they ensure the company, not the community, pays for decommissioning and land restoration when technology moves on. Sustainable development means ensuring innovation doesn\u2019t leave communities exposed.\u201d

For Towne, the goal is not just economic growth, but basic fairness. She wants to see communities guide<\/em> development, not absorb its consequences. \u201cIf communities use the leverage they already have to negotiate real protections, data center development doesn\u2019t have to come at their expense,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now What?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the questions are myriad and indisputably complex, progress and innovations aren\u2019t too far off. \u201cAI is the kind of monster that we all dread: heavy-fisted, lightning fast, and wildly unpredictable,\u201d says Paul Robbins, dean of the Nelson Institute. \u201cBut it\u2019s a monster we turn on and set into motion every morning when we boot up our computers. UW\u2013Madison is the best place to get our heads around this kind of creature.\u201d

There are opportunities to develop policy frameworks to ensure equitable regulatory practices and Tribal sovereignty, Jones theorizes. \u201cThere is potential for data centers to be good grid citizens,\u201d offers Shapiro, if they are built in a way that doesn\u2019t require transmission upgrades or puts new costs on communities. The key is planning for these problems before <\/em>we\u2019re stuck mitigating the consequences, which will serve all sectors in the long run. \u201cWhen governance and innovation move together, sustainability becomes more than a goal,\u201d says Towne, \u201cit becomes practice.\u201d

But to meet the challenges in time, researchers will need resources. \u201cPrivate industry is so important because they have resources to invest,\u201d says Aguirre-Villegas. Or as Crall puts it, \u201cIf we get real engagement from all of the companies fueling the rise of these data centers, there\u2019s an enormous potential to do a lot of fascinating research really fast.\u201d Few examples exist of pairing environmental research with data center planning. Columbia University\u2019s Data Science Institute launched a partnership with IBM<\/a> in 2024 to start digging into sustainable solutions. Siemens recently sponsored a one-year project with LeHigh University<\/a> to investigate micro-grids. And most recently, QTS Data Centers invested $1.5 million<\/a> in UW\u2013Madison\u2019s Nelson Institute to lead research on the sustainable development of data centers. 

\u201cScholars here understand land and water systems, circular economics, political economy, and big data. Most important, around here, our community commitments come first. I\u2019d like to see the UW as the center for exploring, explaining, and guiding the direction of data center development,\u201d Robbins adds. \u201cThere are too many questions still unanswered; I trust this campus community, before anyone else, to get objective, grounded, tractable answers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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