‘Tidal wave’ of Pfas being launched to satisfy AI industry, campaigners warn
Big manufacturers planning to produce more of the forever chemicals to meet demand from datacentres
"ChemSec’s survey found nearly all of the 10 biggest manufacturers of Pfas had plans to increase production, at sites in Europe, Asia and North America.
The boom in AI tech was leading demand, with Pfas used for “eco-friendly” datacentre cooling and in various stages of semiconductor manufacturing.
Japan-headquarted Daikin said it was launching a “datacentre hub” to meet demand, and promised to “maintain and expand our top share in the industry by expanding sales of existing fluorine products and introducing new products”.
The French multinational Arkema was expanding its refrigerant offering, with a new $60m (£44m) production unit in Kentucky that it said “will enable us to follow the rapid expansion of datacenters’ cooling needs”.
And the US Pfas producer Chemours was expanding to meet demand from “advanced datacenters and AI hardware”. It said its “innovative liquid cooling solutions” lower the energy, water, space, maintenance and investment costs of datacentres."
