Localized Air Pollution Impacts from Data Centers in Northern Virginia

This report examins the extent of air pollution emissions resulting from the use of backup generators at data centers in Northern Virginia, including both actual current emissions and potential future emissions, and how those emissions totals compare to other sources of air pollution in the Northern Virginia region. It also examines how exposure to data center emissions correlates with demographic characteristics such as race, income, and education. We while the air pollution emissions from individual data centers is minor, the collective impact from the 100+ such facilities in the Northern Virginia region is significant. Notably, the cumulative emissions exposure in certain neighborhoods near clusters of data centers is already comparable to, and sometimes exceeds, the neighborhood-level emissions exposure from the Dominion Possum Point power station and other notable facilities in the region. Additionally, the total potential air pollution from these data centers, if they were all to emit their maximum allowed pollution per their air permits from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, would far exceed the emissions associated with any other polluting facilities in the region. Finally, we also find that localized data center emissions exposure (both current and potential future / permitted) correlate with income and education -- but notably not race -- in ways that suggest socioeconomic inequities in how those data center emissions impact local communities.