Amazon’s Texas data centre could become America’s dirtiest pollution source while the outfit keeps chanting its net-zero mantra.
According to the New York Times Amazon is building a monster data centre in Pecos County, Texas, to feed Amazon Web Services workloads.
But the site is going to make a lot of people really unhappy because it could become the single-largest source of pollution in the US. Amazon already runs more data centres worldwide than any other outfit and has bagged the permits needed for the project.
Those permits cover an on-site natural gas plant with 35 turbines capable of generating up to 7.65 gigawatts of power. That power comes from burning gas, which makes the greenwash look a bit thin.
The plant has been authorised to release 33 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. That would make it dirtier than any other power plant in the country, according to the report.
Amazon is pressing ahead despite banging on about its 2040 net-zero promise. In 2019, the company pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions across its global operations and co-founded The Climate Pledge.
That voluntary club now includes more than 700 companies and partners, promising to scrub their carbon footprints. Since then, Amazon’s total CO₂ emissions have risen each year.
Most of that comes from its decision to shovel hundreds of billions of dollars into data centres for the artificial intelligence boom. Amazon has several new data centres under construction worldwide, including the controversial Texas site.
Amazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan admitted the AI splurge had made the climate pledge harder to flog.
“The world looks different now than when we co-founded the climate pledge. Our commitment hasn’t changed,” she said.
That sounds rather like Microsoft, which is trying to make its own climate promise survive contact with AI reality. The Windows software maker has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Its latest Environmental Sustainability Report showed net emissions rose 25 per cent from the previous year. Microsoft blamed growing data centre infrastructure and a decision to stop using short-term renewable energy certificates.
Those certificates can trim a corporate carbon footprint without adding clean energy to power grids. Despite that, Microsoft still insists it will hit its 2030 target.
Data centre construction has become a political bunfight as tech firms face growing anger about pollution, water use and rising energy bills.
Last week, Texas paused new data centre projects until state electricity regulators could audit proposed facilities.
Texas Republican governor Greg Abbott said: “Simply put, Texans must come first.”
Abbott’s office said about 90 per cent of new requests to tap the Texas energy grid come from data centres. Those projects are seeking a combined 474 gigawatts of electricity. That is five times more than the state’s peak electricity demand record.
The Trump administration has backed new data centre projects and encouraged their construction on redeveloped federal land. To dodge grid pressure, many data centres are turning to on-site power generation, as Amazon is doing in Texas.
Some firms are eyeing renewable energy and nuclear sources. Gas remains the favourite for most projects because it is widely available and politically handy.
The Trump administration is backing that too, promoting oil, gas and coal rather than more sustainable energy sources.
