Big technology corporations in the United States, which had previously led carbon emission reductions, are recently increasing their dependence on fossil fuels. To respond to the competition in artificial intelligence (AI), these corporations, for whom constructing large-scale data centers is essential, are turning to natural gas to meet their power demands.
On the 22nd (local time), The Washington Post (WP) reported, "Technology and energy corporations are setting aside their once-ambitious eco-friendly energy goals in the face of increasing power demand and changing political dynamics in Washington, and are moving ahead with building new natural gas power plants across the country."
Microsoft (MS) is working on constructing a $3.3 billion (approximately 4.7 trillion won) data center powered by natural gas in Wisconsin. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, also announced plans for a 4 million square feet (ft2) data center in Louisiana at the end of last year, which will be powered by natural gas.
The "Stargate" project, promoted by the U.S. government, is also expected to rely heavily on natural gas-generated electricity. To operate the first data center of this project, which will be built in Texas, the construction of a natural gas power plant worth approximately $500 million (about 7000 won) is underway.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and a close associate of President Donald Trump, is also considering extending the lifespans of 15 gas turbines supplying power to the data center in Memphis, Tennessee. Musk is leading the dismantling of programs that help corporations reduce their carbon emissions through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
This shift contrasts sharply with the actions of big technology corporations during Donald Trump's first term, when they led efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, publicly criticized Trump for announcing his intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement during his first term, saying, "We are ensuring that our new data centers are operated 100% on renewable energy."
The reason big technology corporations are shifting their energy policies is that existing energy sources cannot meet the enormous power demands of data centers. A large data center for AI consumes as much electricity as an entire U.S. city. WP reported that big technology corporations are altering their energy strategies in response to the much larger-than-expected power demands resulting from the expansion of AI computing capacity predicted a few years ago.
The MS board noted in a shareholder resolution last December, "The global energy transition has proven to be far more complex and nonlinear than expected over the past few years," adding that "the urgency of decarbonization is increasing while energy demand is also growing."
The trend of the Trump administration's policies opposing renewable energy also had an effect. Energy Secretary Chris Wright criticized the carbon zero emissions target this month as "evil." Dan Brouillette, who served as Energy Secretary during Trump's first administration, stated, "Current technology cannot provide the amount of power corporations want from renewable energy, nor will it be able to in the future."
Due to the surge in energy demand, the construction of natural gas power plants is expected to increase further. Currently, over 220 natural gas power plants are being developed across the United States. Bill Vine, former sustainability director at Facebook and founder of the nonprofit ClimateVoice, said, "These corporations are building enormous natural gas plants that will operate for the next 30 to 50 years."
Big technology corporations have not completely abandoned carbon emission reductions. MS stated, "By the end of 2025, we will add new non-carbon power sources to the grid equivalent to the amount of power our data centers use." Meta also announced its intention to achieve the same goal in Louisiana.