Amazon Data Center Emissions Top Those Of An Entire Country

There's much ado 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 AI poses, at least as far as the environment is concerned, is how much it is effectively spilling back into the world through emissions or pollution. According to Amazon's annual sustainability report,   the company's absolute emissions rose by 16% in 2025, to a total of 80.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Purchased electricity emissions are also up by as much as 34%. Looking at the tally, that's more than the entire country of New Zealand, which reported a total output of 75.8 million tons in 2024.

Amazon indeed says the higher emissions are largely due to AI, which is increasing energy demand and thereby ballooning energy byproducts. However, despite the increase, the company also claims that its 2040 net-zero operational goal is still possible thanks to investments in renewable energy and future data center efficiency improvements. It is important to note that the company's emissions don't come solely from Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers. Roughly three-quarters are produced by its supply chain operations, including warehouses and fulfillment centers.

In several areas, Amazon has improved its net impact. As of 2025, it now has 80 new renewable energy projects to help boost its power capacity and reduce traditional grid-based electricity consumption. That has helped it achieve a 42-gigawatt carbon-free power output across over 700 projects. Part of that effort is a move to ensure its internal construction projects use lower-carbon and more eco-friendly materials.

As for water consumption, Amazon shares that operations are also getting better and more efficient there, thanks to its expansion of recycled water cooling systems. The company previously revealed that its data centers used over 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025, which it argues is less than the industry average. Google and Microsoft purportedly used more during a similar period, though we have mostly long-term estimates from other companies. Looking at consumption power per kilowatt-hour, Amazon clocks in at 0.15 liters per kilowatt-hour, well under the industry average of 0.84 liters per kilowatt-hour.

Of course, producing more emissions than a small country is something of a setback. And seeing as it was the biggest increase in carbon intensity from the company since 2019, primarily due to the focus on data operations, things seem to be moving in the wrong direction there. The possible good news is that a recent breakthrough with Amazon's data centers might just change the future of the cloud, ultimately reducing total power draw and emissions.