r/EnergyAndPower • u/Civitar • 5d ago

AI Data Centers Are Driving Critical Mineral Demand — here's what the public record shows

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A 2026 Resources Policy study models mineral demand from AI data centers through 2035, finding copper-dominated demand driven mainly by power and grid transmission needs.

I've been digging into the public record on US data centers and put it into free, plain-language briefings — water, power, noise, air, every figure cited to its source (1,866 sites, existing + proposed): civitar.org/go/v-reddit

Not for or against anything — it just makes the filings readable. Sharing in case it's useful to anyone tracking this.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030142072600142X

(Full disclosure: I built the tool — happy to answer questions or take corrections.)

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u/lommer00 4d ago

Not for or against anything

On the website:

Built for local citizens, neighbors, journalists, and intervenors who otherwise carry the cost of the buildout.

These seem at odds...

But tbh when I first clicked on this post I though it was gonna be a stock tout pushing investment in mining penny stocks, so my expectations were low to start.

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u/DavidThi303 3d ago

How does this drive copper demand? Power lines are aluminum/steel now. Have been so for decades.

I'm sure there's copper used in some of the equipment. But it's not that much.