Data centres: Overview
How electricity becomes computation, and then all of it heat
What this tile covers Buildings full of servers that turn electricity into computation and then into heat. Share of use 0.3% share of final energy use (2024)Share of world total final energy consumption (about 435 EJ, calculated: motor systems 13,462 TWh are 53% of electricity, so about 25,400 TWh or 91 EJ, and electricity is about 21% of final energy) that passes through this device or is used by this sector, latest year available. Electricity-based devices use electricity's 21% share of final energy (IEA WEO 2025). Overlaps between devices and sectors are allowed and noted. Data centres used about 415 TWh (1.49 EJ) in 2024, about 1.5% of world electricity; against roughly 435 EJ of final energy that is about 0.34% (calculated). Source: Energy and AI (World Energy Outlook special report), International Energy Agency.
Key facts
| Chain | Electrical → computation → heat (removed by cooling, sometimes reused) |
Included from the reference tables
- Data centre
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