Sustainable AI: the tale of natural gas as green energy

Published on May 30, 2026 | Translated from Spanish

The news reveals the great technological paradox: using liquefied natural gas to power artificial intelligence while selling it as clean energy. In reality, this fossil fuel worsens the climate crisis and threatens to skyrocket electricity prices for households. Large companies prioritize expanding their servers without evaluating the social and environmental cost of their operations.

large-scale data center interior, rows of server racks glowing with blue and orange LED indicators, a massive liquified natural gas pipeline snaking through the facility, gas flames burning at the pipeline junction while electricity meters spin rapidly upward, server cooling fans struggling against rising heat waves distorting the air, a transparent overlay showing a digital graph of CO2 emissions climbing next to a household electricity price index falling, cinematic photorealistic engineering visualization, dramatic chiaroscuro lighting contrasting clean server aesthetics with dirty industrial flames, hyper-detailed metal pipe textures, steam condensation on cold gas tanks, ultra-sharp macro details of circuit boards and valve mechanisms, action of power flow being diverted from residential areas to AI processing units

Data centers: the unstoppable energy appetite ⚡

Each query to an AI model can consume up to ten times more energy than a conventional search. To sustain this growth, companies turn to liquefied natural gas, whose extraction and transportation generate methane emissions. Meanwhile, solar or wind energy, which are truly renewable, take a back seat. Regulation is needed to limit the consumption of these centers so that their bill does not fall on the end user.

The green transition according to tech companies: more gas, please 😅

It seems the energy transition consists of replacing coal with gas, but with a cloud logo and a virtual assistant. Now it turns out that for a machine to learn to write poems, we need to drill the Arctic. Meanwhile, you turn off the light to save money, and they fire up a thermal power plant so the AI can recommend a TV series. At least the planet is laughing, even if it's with hypocrisy.