Material Trace

A large data center can use up to approximately 5 million gallons of water per day for cooling purposes. Water Use Effectiveness (WUE), measured in liters per kilowatt-hour, varies significantly by cooling method and climate.

Google's water use at its data center campus in The Dalles, Oregon was disclosed only after a public-records lawsuit. The water consumption figures were legally public but practically hidden — assembled into meaning only through litigation, not routine disclosure.

Cooling accounts for a substantial share of data center water consumption. Air-cooled facilities typically consume water only indirectly (through grid generation); liquid-cooled and evaporative cooling systems consume water directly on-site. As AI workloads drive higher rack densities, direct liquid cooling is expanding, shifting water consumption from grid-distributed to facility-local.

Global mine production was estimated to have increased to 390,000 tons of REO equivalent largely owing to increased mining and processing in China, Nigeria, and Thailand.

Import Sources (2020–23) — rare-earth compounds and metals: China, 70%; Malaysia, 13%; Japan, 6%; Estonia, 5%; and other, 6%. Compounds and metals imported from Estonia, Japan, and Malaysia were derived from mineral concentrates and chemical intermediates produced in Australia, China, and elsewhere.

Net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption, compounds and metals: 80 [2024, estimated]. U.S. domestic mine production of mineral concentrates: 45,000 metric tons REO (2024, estimated). An estimated 45,000 tons of REO in mineral concentrates were mined and processed domestically in 2024.

The increase in mine production was mainly in Congo (Kinshasa), the world's leading source of mined cobalt, which accounted for an estimated 76% of world cobalt mine production, followed by Indonesia, which accounted for 10%. World total cobalt mine production: 290,000 metric tons (2024, estimated).

China was the world's leading producer of refined cobalt and increased metal refining capacity throughout the year. China was the world's leading consumer of cobalt, with the majority used by the lithium-ion battery industry. U.S. net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption: 76 [2024, estimated].

Excluding U.S. production, worldwide lithium production in 2024 increased by 18% to approximately 240,000 tons from 204,000 tons in 2023 in response to strong demand from the lithium-ion battery market. Global consumption of lithium in 2024 was estimated to be 220,000 tons, a 29% increase from revised consumption of 170,000 tons in 2023.

Although lithium uses vary by location, global end uses were estimated as follows: batteries, 87%; ceramics and glass, 5%; lubricating greases, 2%; air treatment, 1%; continuous casting mold flux powders, 1%; medical, 1%; and other uses, 3%. Lithium consumption for batteries increased significantly owing to the use of rechargeable lithium batteries in the growing market for electric vehicles (EVs), portable electronic devices, electric tools, and energy grid storage applications.

Import Sources (2020–23): Chile, 50%; Argentina, 47%; and other, 3%. Net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption: greater than 50 [2024, estimated]. World total mine production: 240,000 metric tons lithium content (2024, estimated). World reserves: 30,000,000 metric tons.