UN Report Warns Data Centers Could Consume 9.3 Trillion Liters of Water and Rank Sixth in Global Electricity Use by 2030

A UN report warns that data centers, driven largely by AI expansion, could consume 9.3 trillion liters of water and rank sixth globally for electricity use by 2030 if treated as a country, bsky reported. Amid these concerns, Amazon disclosed that its global data centers consumed 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025, claiming a water efficiency of 0.12 liters per kilowatt-hour, which it says is seven times better than the industry average, according to The Verge. However, bsky noted that Amazon's comparison chart reportedly compared all its data centers against the more power-intensive AI-specific facilities of Google and excluded indirect water usage. Amazon also stated it has improved water efficiency by 52% since 2021 and aims to be water positive by 2030, returning more water to communities than it consumes, per bsky.