Google is betting on carbon capture tech to lower data center emissions. Here's how it works

"As AI data centers spring up across the country, their energy demand and resulting greenhouse gas emissions are raising concerns. With servers and energy-intensive cooling systems constantly running, these buildings can use anywhere from a few megawatts of power for a small data center to more than 100 megawatts for a hyperscale data center. To put that in perspective, the average large natural gas power plant built in the U.S. generates less than 1,000 megawatts."

"When the power for these data centers comes from fossil fuels, they can become major sources of climate-warming emissions in the atmosphere-unless the power plants capture their greenhouse gases first and then lock them away. Google recently entered into a unique corporate power purchase agreement to support the construction of a natural gas power plant in Illinois designed to do exactly that through carbon capture and storage."

AI data centers require large amounts of electricity to power servers and energy-intensive cooling, with small centers using a few megawatts and hyperscale centers exceeding 100 megawatts. When electricity derives from fossil fuels, data centers can become significant sources of climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) captures CO2 from power plants, industrial processes, or directly from air, transports it—often via pipelines—and injects it underground for permanent storage. CCS aims to prevent CO2 released during fossil fuel combustion from accumulating in the atmosphere and contributing to long-term warming and related climate impacts.

Read at Fast Company