I’ve been spending a lot of time upgrading the infrastructure behind the Data Center Intelligence Operating System (OS) lately. It’s gnarly to think that it started out as a mere policy tracker for data center legislation at the state and federal layers a while back. Now, it’s EVOLVED like Ultron did. 😎

Check out all the new features along with the retro setup:

Let me know what you think, I’m always looking for feedback on how to make it better!

Chau 👋,

Nate

Episode 244. Is it possible to build a sustainable data center? (AI & Data Centers/Hardware): In this episode, Ian joins us to discuss the construction of data centers. He looks at how best to build a "sustainable" data center, from the planning stage, to materials and cooling before ending with the importance of community outreach.

Why Are AI Companies So Obsessed with Gas (AI & Energy): Amazon is building a 7.65 gigawatt gas plant in the West Texas desert. Microsoft just signed a 20-year gas deal with Chevron, 30 miles away, and Meta, OpenAI, and xAI are all doing versions of the same thing. What is happening?

Gigawatt Campuses vs. Edge Zones: The Future of AI Infrastructure (AI & Data Centers/Hardware): Madelyn O'Farrell interviews Eesha Pathak, Senior Director of Product Management at Crusoe, on Crusoe's vertically integrated, energy-first approach to cloud and data centers, capturing abundant energy (like stranded gas and renewables) and turning "electrons into intelligence" via GPUs and a custom cloud stack.

BIRDS: Characterizing and Understanding Biodiversity Impact of Large Language Model Serving (AI & Ecology/Biodiversity): BIRDS is a framework for the Biodiversity Impact of Request-Driven LLM Serving, defining request-level functional units and introducing Quality-Normalized Biodiversity Impact (QNBI) to jointly analyze ecological impact and response quality. Authors: Tianyao Shi and Yi Ding. Journal: arXiv.

AI Agents Push Humans Out of the Loop (AI & Data Centers/Hardware/Model): This position paper argues that current approaches to AI agent design impede effective human oversight, and that the cognitive capacities required for oversight are themselves degraded by extended use of AI systems. Authors: Mitchell et al. Journal: arXiv.

Megawatts, but Few Permanent Jobs? An Agent-Assisted Evidence Review of the Data-Center Construction Cliff (AI & Social/Economic Impacts): Data-center capacity is expanding rapidly, yet job claims vary by an order of magnitude. This paper synthesises evidence on construction and operational employment, separating direct jobs from wider multiplier-supported employment. Authors: Hosseini et al. Journal: Smart and Sustainable Built Environment.

Powering AI Through Grid-Positive Data Centers (AI & Energy): A look at how data centers can be designed to add value to the grid rather than simply drawing from it. Authoring Body: BCG.

2026 Electricity Statement of Opportunities for the National Electricity Market (AI & Energy): AEMO's annual assessment of electricity supply adequacy and reliability across Australia's National Electricity Market. Authoring Body: Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

How Much Water Do Data Centers Use? And Why Does It Matter? (AI & Infrastructure): An issue brief summarizing what is known about data center water use, noting that indirect (electricity-driven) consumption is more than 10x direct cooling use and can be locally significant in water-scarce areas. Authoring Body: Pacific Institute.

The controversial place a data center may be built | In Case You Missed It (AI & Environmental Impact): In Cardiff, there is a proposal to turn a hospital park and ride site into a new data center campus. Supporters point to jobs and investment; critics worry about transport, noise, energy use, and community impact. So where should they be built, who benefits, and what are the trade-offs?

Fuel Cell-Powered Data Centers - How They Could Help Heating Swedish Districts (AI & Energy): The European #WEDistrict project integrates renewable energy and excess heat for fossil-free district heating and cooling. This video shows the RISE ICE data center lab in Luleå, Sweden, where a fuel-cell-powered data center feeds its waste heat into a local district heating system.

Ep 49: We Don't Want a Competitor Species | Brendan Steinhauser (AI & Ethics & Misinformation): Laura and Brendan get into the real numbers behind AI job losses, why he treats superintelligence as a risk worth planning for, the fight between state and federal AI laws, and what government affairs professionals should be tracking over the next twelve months.

Vaisala (AI & Environment): A global leader in measurement instruments and intelligence for climate action, equipping customers with devices and data to improve resource efficiency, drive energy transition, and care for the safety and well-being of people worldwide. Location: Europe.

TextCortex AI (AI & Data Centers/Hardware): A leading European Gen AI platform enabling companies to create, manage, and interact with customized AI Agents that solve their most pressing challenges. Location: Europe.

cortecs (AI & Data Centers/Hardware): Sovereign AI with high-performance Large Language Models deployed directly on the European cloud, ensuring data sovereignty so developers save time, cut inference costs, and retain full control over their data. Location: Europe.

State Policy Toolkits for Data Center Regulation: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (AI & Infrastructure): A toolkit for states looking to ensure data center growth doesn't undermine their climate goals, drawing on Climate XChange's review of over 400 data center bills introduced in 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions. Price: FREE.

Data Center Infrastructure Map (AI & Infrastructure): A map of data center infrastructure projects across the US, also broken down by state. Price: FREE.

Geoforge (AI & Infrastructure): Run data center screening in hours, not weeks. Price: Freemium.

If you have resources that you wish to submit to the AI & Environment Resource Hub, fill out the Google Form! Thank you for suggesting resources to add to the Resource Hub. 🙃

A political cartoon that I found on LinkedIn that had a lot of posts about the water consumption aspect of data centers that folks have problems with.

Thanks for reading the 57th issue of The Climate Code! It means a lot to me and we have more coming in the future, so definitely stick around! 💚

Nate

PS 😁

New here? I would recommend checking out Data Center Battlegrounds (our YouTube channel focusing on the environmental impacts of data centers) and also the AI & Environment Resource Hub itself.

PPS 😆

If you’re feeling EXTRA GUTSY, connect with me here on LinkedIn! Say hey 👋.