Amazon plans to run its Oregon datacenters off fuel cells • The Register

Unable to get the facility it must feed its rising datacenter footprint, Amazon plans to transition a few of its Oregon datacenters over to pure gasoline gas cells.

First reported by native media, Amazon’s preliminary plan would contain putting in simply shy of 75 megawatts of gas cell capability throughout three datacenters with the choice to increase that to 4 extra websites sooner or later.

Gasoline cells extract electrical energy from a gas like pure gasoline or hydrogen with out the necessity for combustion. With hydrogen, the one byproducts of this response are electrical energy and water vapor, however with pure gasoline, CO2 — a potent greenhouse gasoline — continues to be produced.

The flexibility to provide energy with out combustion has made hydrogen gas cells a well-liked supply of energy in spacecraft and different superior power-tech techniques however extra recently datacenters have adopted this tech as an alternative choice to diesel backup turbines within the occasion of an outage.

For Amazon, these pure gasoline gas cells shall be used as the first power provide, delivering 24.3 megawatts of energy to every of the three datacenter websites.

“We’re investing in gas cells as a strategy to energy a small variety of our operations in Oregon,” an Amazon spokesperson instructed The Register in an electronic mail. “We frequently innovate to reduce our impression on our neighbors, native assets, and the setting and this know-how gives a pathway for much less carbon intensive options within the area.”

An infrastructure drawback

Persevering with to make use of fossil fuels to energy its datacenters is at odds with Amazon’s said sustainability objectives — which embody transitioning services to 100% renewable power by 2025. Nonetheless, sources acquainted with the matter inform The Register that Amazon’s determination to make use of pure gasoline gas cells was made partly as a result of challenges related to energy transmission infrastructure within the area.

Oregon Reside notes that the e-tail large has had issues with landowners, who’ve objected to having high-voltage transmission strains cross their properties.

Gasoline cells present Amazon a strategy to circumvent these complications by producing the facility onsite. Nonetheless, regulators are involved that the choice might truly improve Amazon’s carbon footprint within the area as the facility provided by native utilities contains a mixture of hydroelectric energy. In paperwork filed with the state, it is estimated the gas cells would generate 250,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide yearly.

In fact, Amazon clearly would not have an issue rising its greenhouse gasoline emissions if it additionally means rising its enterprise. In 2021, Amazon stated its whole carbon footprint increased by 18 % blaming its continuous progress, particularly with regard to its cloud enterprise, for the rise in emissions.

A cleaner future?

Whereas Amazon plans to make use of pure gasoline to run the gas cells, there’s technically nothing stopping them from utilizing hydrogen or bio-gasses, like methane harvested from livestock operations.

Utilizing hydrogen gas cells to run datacenters is not a brand new idea, nevertheless it’s the costly and infrequently carbon intensive processes required to provide it are troubling.

Whereas Amazon hasn’t stated if or when it would transition to extra sustainable fuels, the corporate is a member of the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Affiliation. We’re instructed that ought to a gentle provide of H2 grow to be accessible, the gas cells utilized by the services might be transitioned over to make use of a 50/50 mixture of hydrogen and pure gasoline or upgraded to run solely on hydrogen gasoline.

And that is not the one possibility at Amazon’s disposal. The corporate continues to pour money into renewable power tasks. Final September, the corporate stated it will add 2.7 gigawatts of unpolluted power capability to its international operations.

Amazon’s rivals within the cloud enviornment have taken on comparable tasks to additional cut back their greenhouse gasoline emissions forward of sustainability deadlines.

Microsoft final month stated it will supplement its operations with 2.5 gigawatts of photo voltaic panels below an influence buy settlement with South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells. Google can be investing closely in solar energy technology, saying greater than a gigawatt of capability in Tennessee and Texas final yr. ®