Natural gas-fired generation is the undisputed king in the realm of data center development, at least for the near term. Still, hyperscalers like Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft are taking a variety of steps to mitigate the climate impact of their rapidly expanding gas use. These include capturing and sequestering most of the carbon dioxide (CO2) from their gas plants, developing new renewable energy capacity to offset their gas-fired generation, and ramping up their use of nuclear power. In today’s RBN blog, we conclude our series on this topic with a look at several key examples of these efforts.
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This is the third and final blog in a series on how many of the nation’s largest hyperscalers acknowledge that the need to rapidly ramp up the availability of around-the-clock electricity to power their new data centers gives them little choice but to rely heavily on gas-fired generation. As we said in Part 1, the catch is that these gas-dependent plans conflict head-on with the companies’ long-stated “net zero” goals for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, so many of these same AI giants are taking aggressive steps to mitigate the environmental impact of their fast-rising gas use. We also summarized the major hyperscalers’ stated goals for reducing GHGs, the new challenges they face in meeting those goals, and identified the primary approaches that hyperscalers are leaning into.
In Part 2 we focused on a popular tactic, namely the purchase and retirement of low-methane intensity (low-MI) gas certificates — aka MiQ certificates — tied to natural gas that has been independently certified as having very low MI. Today, we will shift to a discussion of three other mitigatory approaches hyperscalers have been taking.
Carbon capture and sequestration
We’ll start with plans by some to employ carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). We noted in Part 1 that Nscale, the developer of the 8-GW Monarch Compute Campus in West Virginia (purple dot in Figure 1 below), is working on a plan to capture CO2 generated by gas-fired power units at the site and utilize 800 million metric tons of already-secured CO2 pore space. (Permit applications for the first Class VI CO2 injection and storage well were filed in 2024; approvals are expected in Q2 2027.)
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About the song
“Flawless” was written by Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash, Chauncey Hollis, Raymond De Andre Martin, Rashad Muhammad, and Onika Maraj. It appears as the 11th song on Beyoncé’s fifth studio album, Beyoncé. Based on a high-speed trap beat, the song is about rejecting others’ opinions and projections, and boosting self-confidence. It includes part of the “Bow Down/I Been On” Beyoncé track that she released in 2013, and features an excerpt from a speech by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Rapper Nicki Minaj is featured on the remix single. Released in August 2014, it went to #5 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. It has been certified 3X Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Personnel on the record were: Beyoncé (vocals, production), Hit-Boy, Rey Reel Music, Boots (production), and Stuart White, Tony Maserati (mixing).
The album, Beyoncé, was recorded in 2012-13 at Fetalmaus and Jungle City in New York City, Beyonce’s home studio in the Hamptons (aka King’s Landing), Mirrorball and Westlake in West Hollywood, Russells of Clapton in London, Tritomus in Berlin, and Trackdown in Sydney. Produced by 40, Ammo, Andre Eric Proctor, Beyoncé, Bobby Johnson, Boots, Brian Soko, Caroline Potachek, Detail, Greg Kurstin, Haze Banga, Hit-Boy, Jerome Harmon, Justin Timberlake, Key Wane, Mike Care, Pharrell Williams, Rasool Diez, Rey Reerl Music, Ryan Tedder, The Dream, and Timbaland, the album was released in December 2013. It went to #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has been certified 6X Platinum by the RIAA. Seven singles were released from the LP.
Beyoncé (Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny’s Child. She is married to rapper and music mogul Jay-Z. Beyoncé has released eight studio albums, six live albums, one soundtrack album, four compilation albums, five EPs, and 61 singles and has sold more than 200 million records worldwide. She has won 35 Grammy Awards and 30 MTV Video Music Awards and has a Billboard Millennium Award, a Peabody Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She has starred in 13 motion pictures and 10 documentaries. Beyoncé continues to record, act and tour.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
