Google is turning on the gas for its data centers
In a surprising move, Google has announced its support for the Broadwing Energy Center, a new gas-fired power plant in Illinois that will incorporate carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. This project aims to filter carbon dioxide emissions from the plant and sequester the greenhouse gas underground, ostensibly as part of Google’s commitment to clean energy solutions. However, critics are questioning whether this initiative is merely a facade for a fossil fuel project, given the ongoing challenges and skepticism surrounding CCS technology. While Google has committed to purchasing the majority of the plant’s output once it becomes operational in 2030, the effectiveness and viability of CCS remain contentious topics in the energy sector.
CCS technology has a troubled history in the United States, with numerous projects failing to achieve their intended goals. A report by the Government Accountability Office revealed that out of nearly $684 million allocated to CCS initiatives at six coal plants, only one successfully came online, with the others facing economic viability issues. Furthermore, the costs associated with electricity generated from gas plants equipped with CCS are significantly higher—at least 1.5 to 2 times more expensive—compared to renewable sources like solar and wind. This raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of relying on such technology, especially when alternatives are available that do not carry the same environmental risks associated with fossil fuels.
Google’s decision to back the Broadwing Energy Center appears to be a strategic move to meet the energy demands of its expanding operations, particularly in the realm of data centers and artificial intelligence. However, it also highlights the tensions in the current energy landscape, where fossil fuel projects receive support amidst a backdrop of declining investments in renewable energy due to shifting political tides. As the company positions itself within this complex environment, it faces scrutiny over whether its actions align with its previously established commitment to sustainability and renewable energy development. As the debate continues, the effectiveness of CCS and the role of fossil fuels in the transition to cleaner energy sources will remain critical issues for both policymakers and the public.
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Google’s latest pledge to support a new clean energy technology is… a gas project? To be precise, it’s a gas-fired power plant outfitted with filtering devices to capture its planet-heating carbon emissions. Is this just a polluting fossil fuel project in sheep’s clothing?
Google just inked an agreement to support the development of a new gas-fired power plant in Illinois called the
Broadwing Energy Center
. It’ll be paired with
carbon capture and storage (CCS)
, technology meant to filter carbon dioxide from smokestack emissions and then store it underground so that the greenhouse gas doesn’t build up in the atmosphere.
Is this just a polluting fossil fuel project in sheep’s clothing?
In theory, that’s supposed to help the planet from heating beyond the point at which rising sea levels render entire coastal communities
unlivable
and ocean warming
kills off the world’s coral reefs
, among other disasters brought on by climate change. In reality, CCS is mired in doubts about its technical and financial feasibility. There’s also a healthy amount of skepticism over whether CCS will only prolong dependence on fossil fuels rather than encouraging a transition to more sustainable sources of energy, like solar and wind power.
Google says it has agreed to purchase “most” of the power that the new 400MW-capacity power plant at Broadwing produces once it starts operating in 2030. “Our goal is to help bring promising new CCS solutions to the market while learning and innovating quickly,” Google says in its
announcement
today.
So far, CCS has a pretty checkered track record in the US. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has
burned through hundreds of millions of dollars
on failed CCS projects, according to a 2021
report
by the Government Accountability Office. Of nearly $684 million spent on CCS projects at six coal plants, only one of them ever came online. The other projects suffered from “factors affecting their economic viability,” the GAO report says.
The cost of electricity from power plants combined with carbon capture is at least
1.5 to 2 times more expensive
than that from solar, wind, or traditional coal and gas power plants without CCS, according to a 2023
report
based on facilities in Australia. Already, rising electricity demand from data centers have
contributed to climbing utility bills
in the US.
The single
CCS project that moved forward
in the US with DOE support came online in 2017 before shuttering for a few years starting in 2020, when the covid-19 pandemic sent oil prices crashing. Why was it so sensitive to oil prices when the plant burned coal? It supplied captured CO2 to an “
enhanced oil recovery
” project, a process involving shooting the CO2 deep into the ground to force out hard-to-reach reserves, as a means of staying financially viable.
The project that Google is backing differs in a couple key ways. The plant burns gas, which has become a
cheaper
way to generate power than than burning coal in the US. And the CO2 will be sequestered a mile underground in a well near the power plant, rather than sold as a product for enhanced oil recovery. Google claims Broadwing will be able to permanently store about 90 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions the plant generates, a figure
higher than many other CCS projects
have been able to achieve to date.
That doesn’t account for other problems associated with gas-fired power plants. Even though the industry prefers
the term “natural gas,”
they primarily burn methane, which is a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide. Methane
routinely leaks
from oil and gas wells and pipelines, a problem that merely capturing CO2 at a power plant fails to solve. Gas plants also produce
other air pollutants
that pose health risks to nearby communities.
Solar and onshore wind energy farms don’t come with the same climate pollution problems and are typically
cheaper to deploy
than fossil fuel-fired power plants these days. Google has been one of the
biggest corporate purchasers
of renewable energy for years now,
helping wind and solar
become the
fastest-growing sources of new electricity generation
.
Google doesn’t mention that in its announcement today, however, perhaps reflecting the political tide turning against renewables in the US under the Trump administration. Donald Trump has installed fossil fuel executives to lead the
Department of Energy
and
other key posts
in his administration while
clawing back
previously allocated federal funds for renewable energy projects and
issuing stop work orders to
offshore wind farms
under construction.
Republicans are
sunsetting tax incentives
for solar and wind projects, but
not for CCS
, incidentally. CCS has needed the financial support to help it get off the ground, and now it has another backer in Google. Google is trying to satiate energy-hungry data centers as it scales up its AI ambitions, and its
carbon footprint has grown in the process
.
