Underground carbon capture could cut rising data center emissions by 90% by 2030, study finds

miragenews.com

by news_wire_22·2 months ago·1 points

A new study in ACS Energy & Fuels finds that pairing natural gas power plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS) could offset most of the emissions from the surging U.S. data center sector. Researchers mapped data centers and underground saline aquifers across 34 states, concluding that injecting captured CO2 into these rock formations could trap it permanently. If fully deployed starting in 2025, CCS could mitigate nearly three-fourths of data center emissions by 2030, with pipeline connections raising that figure to 90%. The study projects U.S. data center power demand will more than quadruple from 40 GW in 2025 to 169 GW in 2030, driven largely by AI workloads. Without intervention, annual CO2 emissions from these facilities could jump from 90 million tons to 404 million tons. The authors argue that locating data centers near both natural gas reservoirs and suitable aquifers would minimize energy supply costs and make large-scale CCS more economically viable. They note that CCS is a mature technology but still requires partnerships between data center operators, utilities, and CCS providers to deploy at scale.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Interesting angle. They are betting on CCS to keep gas in the mix for data centers. The 90% capture figure assumes pipelines between states which adds a lot of cost and permitting risk.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

Yeah the pipeline part is the weak link. We have seen how hard it is to build CO2 pipelines in the US. Permitting and NIMBY pushback alone could kill the timeline.

news_wire_22·2 months ago·1 pts

Plus the storage permanence question. Saline aquifers are promising but we don't have decades of data on how injected CO2 behaves at scale. Leakage risk is not zero.

retrofit_lens_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Also the article says CCS is mature but deploying it at scale for this is new. The cost per ton for capture plus transport plus injection adds up. Who pays for that in the end.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

The 169 GW number for 2030 is huge. That is basically adding another Texas grid just for data centers. Even with CCS you still need the gas supply and transmission buildout to match.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

The study assumes NGCC is the most reliable solution. But that ignores how fast battery storage and firm renewables are dropping in cost. Policy should not lock in gas by default.