Data centers have become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate about the role of generative AI in society. We’ve covered the impacts of data centers on corporate emissions and heat islands. Now a recent report from ChemSec raises a new environmental concern: PFAS. As it turns out, PFAS is a key component in electronics used in manufacturing servers and GPUs. The proliferation of data centers is now driving increased PFAS production by increasing the demand for the hazardous “forever chemicals.” The report states:
“ChemSec’s research reveals that the majority of producers are expanding their PFAS capacity. The expansion is driven by three main sources of demand — AI and data-centre infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, and lithium-ion battery materials.
PFAS manufacturers all over the world are explicitly framing their investments around ‘the AI revolution’ and microchip fabrication. Battery-grade fluoropolymers are a parallel growth area, in which Arkema and Syensqo are expanding their existing production and building new manufacturing facilities.”
At this point, data centers are battling a negative public image as communities worry about the public nuisance posed by the resource-intensive AI infrastructure. Data centers can harm air quality when powered by natural gas turbines, create constant noise pollution in the form of low hums, and warm surrounding areas through the heat that dissipates from cooling computing hardware. These environmental impacts are continually eroding AI companies’ social license to operate. Driving increased PFAS production marks another harm the industry must combat if it wants to continue expansion. Some states have already paused data center development. Localities proposing new data centers regularly face pushback from their constituents. Right now, the AI industry needs to take sustainability seriously. Their long-term growth depends on it.
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