Energy & Sustainability Tracker - Webscale & AI Compute, 2025: Energy Consumption Grows 22% in 2024, Over 2x Faster than Revenues, but Emissions Fall for Second Straight Year

The AI revolution is here, but its engine is running on an unprecedented amount of power. As artificial intelligence explodes into the mainstream in 2025, the focus intensifies on the energy-hungry data centers that power it. This report, "Energy & Sustainability Tracker: Webscale & AI Compute, 2025," from MTN Consulting, provides a comprehensive assessment of energy usage within the webscale and AI compute industry, analyzing the key operators at the heart of this transformation. Our analysis extends MTN Consulting's established research into network operator energy and sustainability, and leverages our proprietary webscale financial tracker covering market data through June 2025.

VISUALS

Webscale(global):
YoY% growth in energy, emissions, revenues, capex and net PP&E

The Webscale Sector Defined

The "webscale" sector comprises Internet, Software & Services companies that own and operate large (hyperscale) data centers and submarine cable networks. When we began coverage in 2017, these operators built hyperscale data centers for three primary purposes: supporting massive customer bases (Tencent's WeChat), delivering cloud services to end users (Amazon's AWS), and running internal operations and research. Over the past three years, webscale operators have increasingly built larger, more sophisticated data centers specifically for AI training and inference, what we term "AI Compute."

Scope and Coverage

This report analyzes 20 leading webscalers, presenting financial metrics (revenues, capex, and net PP&E) alongside energy-related indicators: total energy and electricity consumption, renewable energy share, and greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1, 2, both location- and market-based, and 3). Data cover 2019-2024, supplemented by derived metrics that illuminate energy use and sustainability trends.

Our focus is on publicly held companies with audited financial statements and transparent business models. The recent AI investment boom has produced a surge of new entrants: some renting GPU capacity ("neocloud" providers), others chasing low-cost energy or niche segments. Many of these firms lack proven business models and may not survive long. A few significant private players, such as Elon Musk's xAI, also fall outside this report's scope.

While we don't capture every data center worldwide, the public webscalers analyzed here account for the vast majority of global hyperscale capacity, and they are the players most likely to shape the market's future direction. Important private and carrier-neutral providers supply colocation services, and many smaller facilities serve specific government and corporate needs, but our coverage focuses on the dominant market leaders.

Data Quality and Methodology

Compiling a consistent dataset was a challenge. This is not the kind of exercise you can outsource to an AI. Financial reporting follows clear standards; energy and environmental disclosures do not. Companies vary widely in what they report, and ESG data are not always audited. MTN Consulting reviewed over 150 sustainability reports, relying on verified data whenever possible and estimating where necessary to create comparable, credible time series. We believe this is the most objective and comprehensive review of energy and sustainability practices in the webscale/hyperscale and AI Compute markets available today.

One important caveat: our focus on publicly traded companies introduces a reporting bias. Public companies face greater public pressure and are more likely to use renewable energy and commit to aggressive GHG emissions reduction programs. The "go green" push is not universal; private companies often take shortcuts and avoid disclosure. The companies we don't track likely have weaker environmental records than these public webscalers.

The Unstoppable Energy Demand of AI

The data reveals a sector in the throes of rapid transformation. In 2024 alone, the webscale sector consumed 190.8 TWh of energy, a staggering 22% year-over-year increase. Since 2019, energy use has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.9%, far outpacing broader industry estimates. This growth is intrinsically linked to the AI boom.

The evidence is clear that AI investment is making webscalers significantly more energy-intensive. In 2019, the sector consumed 51.7 megawatt-hours (MWh) per $1 million in revenue. By the end of 2024, that figure had risen to 71.5 MWh per $1 million. Growth in energy intensity accelerated in 2024, as energy consumption grew at over twice the speed of revenues. This energy is overwhelmingly consumed by data centers, which account for 85-90% of total webscale energy use. That figure continues to climb, driven by companies like Meta, which consumes over 97% of its total energy in data centers.

A Strategic Shift: Vertical Integration for Power Security

Faced with this demand, the industry is undergoing a fundamental shift. Energy has become so critical that we are witnessing vertical integration, with AI developers and data center owners investing directly in energy generation. A small sample of such moves:

• Amazon's $500M investment in small modular nuclear reactors and its strategic purchase of a data center site near a nuclear power plant.
• Fermi REIT's launch of a flagship AI data center and energy complex in Texas, designed to supply up to 11 GW.
• Prologis's pivot from logistics real estate to securing over 3 GW of power for specialized AI data centers.

While many of these deals prioritize carbon-free energy, the report sounds a note of caution on the circular investment dynamics and the potential risks of a market bubble, drawing parallels to the dot-com era.

Sustainability in the Spotlight: A Tale of Two Metrics

Despite soaring energy consumption, the report uncovers a more nuanced and promising story on sustainability. The webscale sector is leading the charge in renewable energy adoption. In 2024, a remarkable 84.3% of webscale energy came from renewable sources, a dramatic increase from 56.3% in 2019 and far exceeding other sectors like telecom (approx. 22-23%).

This commitment is driving tangible environmental progress. For the second consecutive year, total greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1, 2-market-based, and 3) have fallen, reaching 224.1 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent in 2024, down from a peak of 236.0 million in 2022.

However, the report issues a critical warning against complacency. It emphasizes that the commonly cited Scope 1 and 2 emissions tell only part of the story. The far more significant Scope 3 emissions, i.e. the indirect emissions from a company's value chain, comprise the vast majority of the sector's total carbon footprint. Companies that downplay these emissions are ignoring the true scale of their environmental impact. For instance, a company like Apple may run its operations on 100% renewables, but the hundreds of millions of devices it sells annually draw power from grids worldwide. A full accounting is essential, and this report provides it.

Who Leads and Who Lags? Exclusive Company Rankings

This tracker goes beyond sector-level analysis to deliver granular company rankings on key performance indicators, enabling you to benchmark players and identify leaders and laggards.

• Renewable Energy Adoption: Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet all achieved 98% or higher in 2024, while Chinese webscalers Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu ranked lowest; some of these, however, are making rapid progress.
• Energy Intensity: Microsoft and Meta are among the most energy-intensive companies, a direct result of their massive AI compute investments. In contrast, device-centric companies like Xiaomi and Apple have the lowest intensity.
• Total Carbon Footprint: Amazon is the standout outlier, accounting for over 30% of the entire sector's emissions at over 68 million metric tons in 2024. While its renewable commitment is strong, its Scope 3 emissions are massive, and the report details its controversial departure from a UN-backed climate initiative.

Why You Need This Report

This report delivers actionable intelligence unavailable elsewhere. Investors can evaluate AI infrastructure opportunities with confidence. Policy makers can address energy grid capacity challenges with hard data. Industry participants can benchmark their sustainability performance against peers. The report provides detailed company-by-company metrics spanning six years, proprietary analysis of energy intensity trends, and clear rankings across renewable adoption and emissions. You'll gain the competitive advantage needed to make informed decisions in the rapidly evolving AI compute landscape. This is the definitive resource for understanding the intersection of artificial intelligence, energy consumption, and environmental impact.

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