Tech giants X, Meta, and Microsoft are rushing to power their AI projects with natural gas, straying from their green climate commitments.
With Trump’s administration promoting a pro-fossil fuel agenda, tech companies are foregoing their green climate goals to meet their high power demands for AI development.
However, they have insisted that they will counterbalance their increased reliance on natural gas capacity with equal investments in clean energy, such as solar and wind.
Tech companies like Microsoft want to use natural gas to power their AI solutions
Microsoft is eyeing new gas generation to power a $3.3 billion data center project in Wisconsin. WEC Energy Group’s We Energies, the Wisconsin-based utility company, even argued that roughly $2 billion would be needed to power Microsoft’s AI operations in the state.
Aside from Microsoft, energy producer NextEra, which pledged to cut back on its carbon emissions immensely during Biden’s administration, is now planning to expand its gas power generation.
Meta will also power its new 4-million-square-foot data center in the Louisiana Delta with natural gas turbines. The Louisiana data center alone requires more than 2GW to operate, so much electricity that Entergy’s Louisiana subsidiary wants to have new natural gas plants for the first time in five decades.
Nevertheless, these big techs have stated that they will continue to support renewable and lower-carbon energy projects. However, Cathy Kunkel, an energy consultant at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, says the only solid plans she sees are the ones involving natural gas plants, hinting that tech companies may focus less on their clean energy solutions.
Trump has advocated for more fossil fuel use since his return to the White House
While tech giants initially opposed Trump’s efforts to dismantle renewable energy initiatives in his first term, they are now embracing his renewed support for fossil fuels since his return to the White House.
When asked to comment on the tech companies’ switch, Dan Brouillette, energy secretary during Trump’s first term, argued that renewable energy cannot and will not be able to meet their electricity needs, especially with the current technology.
So far, over 220 natural gas plants are under development in the country, and some leaders have justified their development by arguing that they are just a short-term fix before more renewable energy is available.
He’s even referred to wind power as “disgusting”, claiming it caused the deaths of multiple whales and birds. Ideally, he envisions “good clean coal” and “the dirtiest of fossil fuels,” meeting the rising electricity demand from AI projects.
Current Energy Secretary Chris Wright is also seemingly against net zero emissions goals, describing them as “sinister” and even claiming that they could destabilize energy systems.
So far, over 220 natural gas plants are under development in the country, and some leaders have justified their development on the grounds that they are just a short-term fix before more renewable energy is available.
However, some seem to disagree with that opinion, including Bill Weihl, a former director of sustainability at Facebook and founder of the nonprofit ClimateVoice, who said: “These companies are building these massive new gas plants that are going to be there for 30 to 50 years. That’s not a bridge. It is a giant bomb in our carbon budget.”
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