It is estimated that data centers will use 3 to 13 percent of all global electricity by the year 2030, compared to the 1 percent they used in 2010. Water is another resource gobbled up by data centers. The surveillance facility constructed by the National Security Agency in the United States, the third largest on the planet, consumes 1.7 million gallons of water daily to operate its servers.

Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, loc. 807