# Data centres: Overview

How electricity becomes computation, and then all of it heat

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/overview/

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)](https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai), International Energy Agency.

#### Key facts

| **Chain** | Electrical → computation → heat (removed by cooling, sometimes reused) |
|---|---|

#### Included from the reference tables

- Data centre

#### Also in Industry, buildings and farms
[HI Energy-intensive industry](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_heavy_industry/)[Bld Energy in buildings](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_buildings/)[Agr Energy in farming](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_agri_energy/)

Explore paths from here
 More on this tile in the tabs above: science and limits, value chain, unit economics, engineering methods, equipment and suppliers.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/correlation/index.md)
- [Science and limits](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/science/index.md)
- [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/valuechain/index.md)
- [Unit economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/economics/index.md)
- [Engineering methods](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/methods/index.md)
- [Equipment and suppliers](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/equipment/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/links/index.md)