There’s a lot of noise about AI and data centers consuming a ton of resources during normal operations, from oceans of clean water to almost unimaginable amounts of energy. But another challenge that AI poses, at least as it relates to the environment, is to what extent it actually impacts the world through emissions or pollution. According to Amazon’s annual sustainability report, the company’s absolute emissions increased by 16% in 2025, reaching a total of 80.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Emissions from purchased electricity also increased by up to 34%. Looking at the tally, that’s more than the entire country of New Zealand, which reported a total production of 75.8 million tonnes in 2024.
Indeed, Amazon claims that higher emissions are largely due to AI, which increases energy demand and thus inflates energy by-products. However, despite this increase, the company also says its operational goal of net zero emissions by 2040 is still possible thanks to investments in renewable energy and future data center efficiency improvements. It’s important to note that the company’s emissions don’t just come from Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers. About three-quarters is produced by its supply chain operations, including warehouses and distribution centers.
Amazon says its efficiency is improving everywhere
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In several areas, Amazon has improved its net impact. By 2025, it now has 80 new renewable energy projects to help it increase its power capacity and reduce traditional grid-based electricity consumption. This has enabled it to achieve 42 gigawatts of carbon-free energy production in more than 700 projects. Part of this effort involves ensuring its internal construction projects use lower carbon and more environmentally friendly materials.
When it comes to water consumption, Amazon says operations there are also improved and more efficient, thanks to the expansion of recycled water cooling systems. The company previously revealed that its data centers used more than 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025, which it said is below the industry average. Google and Microsoft would have used more over a similar period, although we mostly have long-term estimates from other companies. When it comes to energy consumption per kilowatt hour, Amazon records consumption of 0.15 liters per kilowatt hour, well below the industry average of 0.84 liters per kilowatt hour.
Of course, producing more shows than a small country is something of a setback. And with this being the largest increase in the company’s carbon intensity since 2019, primarily due to its focus on data operations, things appear to be heading in the wrong direction. The possible good news is that a recent breakthrough with Amazon’s data centers could well change the future of the cloud, ultimately reducing total energy consumption and emissions.
