- Microsoft signs massive methane deals to sustain growing AI workloads
- AI expansion drives hyperscalers towards faster fossil energy solutions
- Microsoft’s data center emissions are expected to increase sharply in 2028
Microsoft has signed a series of methane gas-powered AI data center deals totaling nearly 5 gigawatts of capacity, marking a departure from the company’s climate goals.
The race for AI supremacy has hyperscalers locking in any available power, and Microsoft has turned to fossil fuels to keep its AI tools running without lag.
The deals include an exclusive partnership with oil giant Chevron for a 2.5 gigawatt facility near Pecos, Texas, along with additional facilities in Abilene, Texas, and Mason County, West Virginia.
The article continues below
The gap between promises and actions
Research by Stand.earth Research Group claims that these projects will increase Microsoft’s data center carbon footprint by 160%, reaching around 25.25 million tonnes of CO₂e by 2028.
“Microsoft makes good claims about its climate credentials, which makes it all the more disappointing to see the company turn to fossil fuels,” said Rachel Kitchin, Senior Corporate Climate Campaigner at Stand.earth.
Three years after their 2020 climate pledge to become carbon negative by 2030, Microsoft’s emissions had already increased by at least 30%.
Microsoft president Brad Smith recently declared that he was “confident in our ability” to meet the 2030 goal.
By the end of 2024, on-site data centers accounted for just 5% of all demand for methane power being developed in the US – a year later, this figure rose to 39% as demand for training and operating LLMs accelerated faster than renewable capacity could be built.
Developers argue that the back-meter methane gas eliminates the burden on existing utility customers – however, industry analysts warn that demand for data centers has already increased consumers’ electricity bills.
A Virginia Commonwealth University study found that on-site methane gas for a single data center could lead to $53 to $99 million in health-related costs.
A 2021 Harvard University study also found that one in five deaths worldwide may be linked to air pollution from burning fossil fuels.
Research also suggests that data centers can raise local temperatures, which indirectly increases electricity bills through higher demand for home cooling.
Microsoft claims to match 100% of its electricity demand with renewable energy, but these claims are based on energy markets that do not require direct delivery to its data centers.
The gap between what Microsoft says and what Microsoft does seems to be growing wider every day.
Renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, making Microsoft’s pivot to methane gas for its AI tools hard to defend.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, video unboxings, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
