HARC models pollution from Texas AI data-center expansion
The Houston Advanced Research Center modeled three data-center electricity-demand projections and four power-supply scenarios for Texas. In the anticipated-grid scenario, fine-particle pollution would more than triple, NOx emissions would rise 136%, and carbon dioxide emissions would be 90% above 2025 levels, according to The Verge and cnBeta’s summaries of the report. TechNews reports that even a cleaner scenario pairing grid power with onsite wind and solar would still produce a 35% statewide NOx increase by 2031, while onsite gas generation could approach a 400% increase.
HARC’s report, as summarized by The Verge, cnBeta, and TechNews, shows how grid delays and power-supply choices could shape the environmental footprint of Texas’s AI infrastructure expansion.
Data centers could erase decades of air quality gains
New research out of Texas shows how data centers are driving up pollution.
New research out of Texas shows how data centers are driving up pollution.
by Justine Calma
Oct 21, 2026, 10:33 PM UTC
