US Data Centers May Burn More Gas Than Germany and Japan by 2035
Original: US data centers could consume more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined by 2035
Why This Matters
AI's energy appetite is reshaping national gas markets, utility pricing, and emissions trajectories at a scale few anticipated even a year ago.
BloombergNEF projects U.S. data centers will consume ~18 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2035—nearly double its forecast from nine months ago—driven by AI infrastructure expansion. Grid-connected facilities alone could add 15 billion cubic feet per day, five times more than all other grid sectors combined.
A new BloombergNEF report projects that U.S. data centers will consume roughly 18 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2035, surpassing the combined consumption of Germany and Japan. That figure is nearly double what the research firm predicted just nine months earlier. The revision accounts for incomplete project completions, suggesting even this revised number is conservative in some ways.
Onsite natural gas plants announced by Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon—built to bypass the grid entirely—will consume 2.9 to 3.4 billion cubic feet per day by 2035, approximately equal to total data center gas consumption today. But that's a small share of the projected total. Grid-connected data centers are forecast to drive an additional 15 billion cubic feet per day in power sector demand, five times the growth from all other grid-connected industries combined.
The scale has direct price implications. Analysts at Noreva warn that rising LNG exports, combined with data center demand, could push natural gas prices sharply higher—a risk for utility ratepayers who cannot absorb costs the way major tech companies can. On the climate side, the IEA estimates burning one cubic foot of natural gas releases 60 grams of CO2-equivalent, including extraction and distribution. The added data center demand would generate roughly 1 million metric tons of additional greenhouse gases daily—about 12% of current total U.S. emissions.