Daily Update — June 18, 2026
Data Center Surge by 2030; UK Sustainability Disclosures; and Optimistic Biochar Developers
Today is Thursday, June 18, 2026, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.
Data Centers
S&P webinar: Data center power demand to more than double by 2030
Data center power demand is set to more than double between 2026 and 2030 as AI infrastructure expansion creates significant challenges for power grids and utilities, experts said during the "AI Infrastructure Growing Pains: Ensuring Energy Resilience Amid Grid Constraints and Public Demands" webinar by S&P Global Market Intelligence and S&P Global Energy Horizons.
"We're talking about a data center campus with equivalent energy consumption of Orlando, Florida," said Dan Thompson, principal research analyst at 451 Research from S&P Global Energy Horizons, referring to gigawatt-scale facilities under construction. "So, remember all of Disney, all of Universal Studios, airports, restaurants, all the things that are in Orlando, Florida."
The US dominates global data center capacity with 62,242 megawatts as of March 2026, far surpassing China's 34,015 MW. By 2030, US capacity is projected to reach 151,734 MW.
Sustainability
Listen: How the UK is tackling the “alphabet soup” of sustainability disclosures
Ahead of London Climate Action Week, the “All Things Sustainable” podcast is exploring how the UK is adopting International Sustainability Standards Board standards. Sally Duckworth, chair of the UK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee, joined the podcast to discuss sustainability-related reporting, which is well established in the UK.
“We want to eliminate what's often called the ‘alphabet soup’ of fragmented reporting by promoting consistency and comparability,” Duckworth said, adding that companies’ understanding of risk has evolved. "People now see risk with a much broader lens, looking at what's happening in their ecosystem as a whole — and clearly, sustainability forms a key part of that.”
Energy Expansion
Indian biochar developers optimistic on CDR demand despite Microsoft's procurement pace
Indian developers of biochar, a form of charcoal used as a carbon sink, are optimistic about near- to medium-term demand from large corporates in the US and Europe despite Microsoft recalibrating its procurement of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits.
Evolving dynamics stemming from the war in the Middle East are not expected to significantly reduce buying interest from corporates for CDR credits, developer sources told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.
In case you missed it
- The UK will ban imports of diesel and jet fuel made from Russian oil from 2027 by ending a temporary sanctions waiver covering both products.
- The war in the Middle East has swung the global petrochemical market into a supply deficit after years of oversupply.
- Southeast Asia's steelmakers are making strides toward lower-carbon production, but stricter emissions-reporting requirements present some hurdles.
Upcoming events
- Navigating Financial Institutions and Private Markets Profitability and Deployment in a Volatile Landscape | June 24 (Webinar)
- From Model to Credit Decisioning: Where Analytics Meet Workflow | June 24 (Webinar)
- Future-Proofing Private Credit Valuations: Meeting the Next Wave of Investor, Liquidity, and Regulatory Demands | June 25 (Webinar)