内容来源：https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1015958/data-center-pollution-rising-report

内容总结：

【新闻报道】得克萨斯州正成为生成式人工智能背后物理基础设施的“重灾区”。大量新建数据中心可能使当地空气污染回升至2000年代以来的最严重水平。休斯顿高级研究中心（HARC）最新报告指出，若得州所有规划中的数据中心项目全部接入电网并按预期电网能源结构供电，细颗粒物（烟尘）污染将增至三倍以上，达到2006年以来最高水平；形成雾霾的氮氧化物排放将增加136%，逼近2004年水平；导致全球变暖的二氧化碳排放将比2025年上升90%。仅五年内，污染增量就足以抹去数十年来空气质量改善的成果。

报告同时指出，这一结果并非定局。HARC基于三种数据中心能源需求预测进行了建模，许多拟建项目仍属推测性，可能无法落地；开发商也可通过在场建设太阳能和风电设施来限制环境影响。若数据中心将电网电力与现场可再生能源相结合，氮氧化物排放最多可降低至十分之一；但若开发商为规避电网接入长时间等待而选择在场建设燃气发电设备，则可能出现相反结果，导致污染达到最高水平。

数据中心容量通常以用电量衡量。得州现有及在建数据中心容量达26吉瓦，已成为全美最大的数据中心市场。伍德麦肯兹今年3月发布的另一份报告显示，得州拟建的数据中心自发电容量是其他任何州的四倍。许多情况下，开发商为加快施工进度而采用效率较低的燃气轮机技术，进一步加剧了数据中心热潮带来的污染。

HARC首席执行官约翰·霍尔在新闻稿中表示：“我们的子孙后代很有可能呼吸到比我们更脏的空气。交通部门、州政府及其他利益相关方数十年来一直在努力降低这些排放数据，但这一进展如今面临风险。”

中文翻译：

一股新建数据中心的热潮可能使得克萨斯州的空气污染飙升至自2000年代以来未曾见过的水平。得州已成为生成式人工智能背后实体基础设施的核心地带。
数据中心可能抹去数十年来在空气质量方面取得的成果
得克萨斯州的新研究显示，数据中心正在推高污染水平。
得克萨斯州的新研究显示，数据中心正在推高污染水平。
新建和拟建的数据中心需要大量电力。开发商和公用事业公司如何满足这一需求——是通过燃气轮机还是可再生能源——将决定污染会有多严重。然而到目前为止，情况看起来并不乐观。
科技公司和数据中心开发商正在想方设法获取足够的电力，包括自建电源。但根据休斯顿高级研究中心（HARC）的一份新报告，如果得州所有规划中的数据中心项目都接入电网，并按预期的电网能源结构供电，烟尘和形成雾霾的污染物将急剧上升。仅五年时间，产生的污染就足以抹去数十年来在空气质量方面取得的改善。
“我们的子孙后代很有可能呼吸到比我们更脏的空气。”
在这种情景下，电力部门产生的细颗粒物污染（烟尘）将增至三倍以上，达到2006年以来的最高水平。形成雾霾的氮氧化物排放量将增加136%，接近2004年的污染水平。导致全球变暖的二氧化碳污染将比2025年高出90%。
当然，这并非定局。HARC根据数据中心能源需求的三种不同预测方案模拟了不同的结果。许多拟建的数据中心项目属于投机性质，可能会中途搁浅。开发商也可以通过在场址建设太阳能和风电场来限制数据中心对环境的影响。
如果数据中心将电网电力与现场可再生能源发电相结合，氮氧化物排放量最多可降低至十分之一。但如果开发商决定在现场建设燃气发电机组为数据中心供电，以避开接入电网的漫长等待，则可能出现相反的结果，导致污染水平达到最高值。
数据中心的容量通常以其耗电量来衡量，按此标准，得州已成为 leading 的数据中心市场，现有及在建容量达26吉瓦。根据伍德麦肯兹3月发布的另一份报告，得州拟建的现场自发电数据中心容量是其他任何州的四倍。而在许多情况下，开发商为了加快施工进度而转向效率较低的燃气轮机技术——这一趋势也使数据中心热潮的污染程度超出必要水平。
“我们的子孙后代很有可能呼吸到比我们更脏的空气，”HARC首席执行官约翰·霍尔在新闻稿中表示。“交通运输行业、州政府和其他利益相关方数十年来一直在努力将这些排放数字降下来，而现在这一进展正面临风险。”

英文来源：

A rush of new data centers could bring air pollution roaring back to levels not seen since the 2000s in Texas, which has become ground zero for the physical infrastructure behind generative AI.
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.
New and proposed data centers are demanding a tremendous amount of electricity. How developers and utilities meet that demand — with gas turbines or renewable energy — will determine just how dirty things will get. So far, though, things are looking grim.
Tech companies and data center developers are devising new ways to get enough electricity, including building out their own power sources. But if all planned data center projects were to plug into the electricity grid in Texas and be powered by the anticipated grid mix, soot and smog-forming pollutants would skyrocket, according to a new report from the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC). In just five years, it would be enough pollution to wipe out decades of gains in air quality.
“There is a good chance that our children and grandchildren will breathe dirtier air than we did.”
In that scenario, fine particle pollution or soot from the power sector would more than triple, reaching its highest level since 2006. Smog-forming NOx emissions would increase 136 percent, approaching pollution levels from 2004. Planet-heating carbon dioxide pollution would climb 90 percent above what they were in 2025.
That’s not set in stone, of course. HARC modeled different outcomes based on three different projections for data center energy demand. Many proposed data center projects are speculative and could fall by the wayside. And developers can limit the environmental impact of a data center by building solar and wind farms onsite.
NOx emissions could be up to 10 times lower if data centers pair grid power with renewable electricity generated onsite. But if developers decide to build gas engines on site to power their data centers as a way to avoid long wait times to connect to the grid, the opposite could also play out, resulting in the highest pollution levels possible.
Data center capacity is typically measured by how much power they draw, and Texas has become the leading data center market in this measure with 26 gigawatts of existing and under-construction capacity. Texas is also bracing for four times more proposed data center capacity running on power generated onsite than any other state, according to a separate Wood Mackenzie report published in March. And in many cases, developers are turning to less efficient gas turbine technology in order to speed construction — another trend that’s making the data center boom more polluting than it needs to be.
“There is a good chance that our children and grandchildren will breathe dirtier air than we did,” John Hall, HARC CEO, said in a press release. “The transportation sector, the state, and other stakeholders have been working for decades to successfully bring these [emissions] numbers down, and that progress is now at risk.”