If it has not been said enough, data centers are extremely resource intensive. According to the International Energy Agency (2025), electricity consumption by data centers was estimated to be 1.5 percent of global electricity usage in 2024—amounting to 415 terawatt hours (TWh). However, experts suggest that electricity consumption in accelerated servers—primarily used for Artificial Intelligence (AI) purposes—could grow by 30 percent annually. While 1.5 percent of global electricity consumption may seem insignificant, it is important to note that powering a single data center can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households. Some data centers are even projected to consume up to 20 times that amount (The Guardian, 2025). In Malaysia, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, Fadillah Yusof, stated that our data center electricity demand could reach 12.9 gigawatt (GW) by 2030 and rise to 20.9GW by 2040 (Malay Mail, 2025). This is set to place a massive strain on our power grid, which is predominantly powered by coal and natural gas—two of the biggest contributors to global climate change. As EMIR Research previously pointed out, carbon dioxide emissions originating from data centers are expected to more than double between 2022 and 2030 (refer to “Unlocking Malaysia’s nuclear future: the BRICS advantage”). Electricity is not the only resource that data centers consume. Water is another vital input for certain data centers—used both for cooling and for generating electricity. According to Mytton (2021), data centers consume water in two ways: indirectly through electricity generation and directly through cooling systems. In 2014, data centers in the United States (US) alone were responsible for the use of 626 billion liters of water. Further, Google’s average data center consumed about 1.7 million liters of water per day, while data centers in Johor collectively consumed roughly 1.4 billion liters daily (The Edge, 2024) Making matters worse, some of the largest data center operators are building their facilities in regions already experiencing water scarcity (The Guardian, 2025a). Water issues are localized, meaning efforts to manage data center water usage in Malaysia will likely have little effect elsewhere in the world. However, they will have a significant impact on local Malaysian communities. Despite receiving an average annual rainfall of 3,085.5 mm, Malaysia regularly experiences water supply disruptions (World Bank Group, n.d.). On top of that, reservoir levels often fall below safe thresholds, forcing operators to reduce water releases to conserve supply. Given that the average Malaysian used 226 liters of water per day in 2023—and that Malaysian water demand is projected to grow by 103 percent by 2050—the growth of data centers in Malaysia presents a serious dilemma for policymakers and underscores the need for proactive measures to protect livelihood of the people (The Sun, 2025). Reducing the water used for power generation is difficult, as we remain heavily reliant on coal and natural gas power plants. Without a major shift in our energy mix—possibly incorporating advanced technologies such as small modular reactors, which offer designs with significantly reduced water dependency—meaningful […]
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