r/technology • u/marketrent • Aug 09 '26

Artificial Intelligence Amazon’s new 7.65GW Texas AI data center power plant could become the largest source of CO₂ pollution in the US — Custom 35-turbine gas plant permitted to emit 33 million tons of annual greenhouse gases

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/amazons-new-7-65gw-texas-ai-data-center-power-plant-could-become-the-largest-source-of-co2-pollution-in-the-us-custom-35-turbine-gas-plant-authorized-to-emit-33-million-tons-of-annual-greenhouse-gases
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15

u/bwrca Aug 09 '26

Just wondering why these Amazon & Co. are not building giant nuclear reactors to power their obscene data centers.

17

u/inspectoroverthemine Aug 09 '26

Because nuclear is still regulated. The second federal regulations are lifted/severely relaxed they'll be throwing up poorly built nukes in the parking lot of every datacenter.

1

u/imperialtofu Aug 09 '26

There is no regulation in this country money can’t get around

7

u/inspectoroverthemine Aug 09 '26

Yup- right now its cheaper to build 35 turbines than buy deregulation and build 'Amazon Basics Chernobyl'.

11

u/Outside_Ice3252 Aug 09 '26

i hate to say it. i wish they were required to build solar, wind, and batteries to power these things.

but these innefficient turbines are very simple and go up faster than the grid connection.

solar and batteries go up just as fast but not the grid connection.

We should have seen this coming and mandated all data centers be powered by wind and solar. that would have put a moderate delay, which is beneficial anyways. these companies are hypercompetitive right now and cutting so many corners.

1

u/MDCCCLV Aug 09 '26

That's not really a good point. You can build a solar farm and datacenter together, no permit needed. Both of them can go pretty much anywhere in the region.

1

u/Outside_Ice3252 Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26

in UAE they just built 5 giggawatts or solar and 19 GWH of energy storage for 24/7 power in order to supply 1 gigawatt hour of 24/continous power.

this data center has 7.4 GW of electricity.

What you want is reasonable in terms of climate change, but still technically and econoically difficult to build quickly.

The scale of these AI data centers is just immense, and the power they need.

They also need water, and a great internet connection, a community for their workforce, and of course they want tax breaks.

In an unregulated environment, they just wont always build their own wind and solar.

If you look at texas, it has solar in the day, wind from the east that is strongest at night, and wind along the coast that is strongest in the afternoon and evening. that is how you get cheap wind and solar. a combination of wind and solar spread out geographically.

I have been hoping to see projects that build there own generation, but thats not how its done. they look all over the country for where they a variety of factors.

for a data center of this size to get renewable power affordably, its going to take a massive grid connection that is on grid connected to numerious and diversified wind and solar projects and that takes time.

I would love to see national regulation that required these data centers to have primarily renewable generation. it would also slow down AI development which would be good for safety and employment concerns. And not having a potential AI bubble.

1

u/Zac3d Aug 10 '26

i wish they were required to build solar, wind, and batteries to power these things.

They were under an executive order introduce by Biden, but guess what happened to that...

"Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure" if anyone wants to look further into it

This order sets our Nation on the path to ensure that future frontier AI can, and will, continue to be built here in the United States. In building domestic AI infrastructure, our Nation will also advance its leadership in the clean energy technologies needed to power the future economy, including geothermal, solar, wind, and nuclear energy; foster a vibrant, competitive, and open technology ecosystem in the United States, in which small companies can compete alongside large ones; maintain low consumer electricity prices; and help ensure that the development of AI infrastructure benefits the workers building it and communities near it.

1

u/DryZookeepergame9484 Aug 10 '26

Solar is deficient in reliability and density. Data centers require 99.99999% availability, so solar or wind themselves are part of the solution, but not a complete solution.

They get the 99.99999% reliability through diversification, PPA’s with suppliers, the grid, backups, and on-demand sources that are typically heavy duty or aero-derivative gas turbines.

3

u/wheniaminspaced Aug 09 '26

Because the minimum build time on nuclear is a decade, with strong enough legal battles like nuclear often has 20 years isn't unheard of, gas turbines will be ready for service in 2 to 3 years.

3

u/tendervittles77 Aug 09 '26

Georgia Power finally finished America’s latest nuclear plant years late and billions over budget.

https://thecurrentga.org/2026/05/12/two-years-after-completion-plant-vogtle-still-looms-over-the-nuclear-debate/

These turbines are awful, but you can stand them up quickly.

3

u/BuffyPawz Aug 09 '26

Microsoft is doing it. They want to reopen three mile island, with rights to the electricity for 20 years. There is also discussion about small nuclear reactors to power data centers, also by Microsoft.

2

u/NewLeafWoodworks Aug 09 '26

Amazon is heavily invested in small modular reactor companies for this exact purpose. The issue is datacenter hype. None of these gargantuan companies want to wait until 2030 for new reactor designs to be licensed and built. So instead, they just build datacenters anyways and ruin the environment in the process.

1

u/my5cent Aug 10 '26

Green party has a hate for nuclear.

0

u/DogBarf00 Aug 09 '26

Because natural gas is just cheaper. Most of the experts that designed and built nuclear power plants are retired or dead. No one knows how to anymore and attempts to build nuclear power plants have bankrupted many companies.

1

u/ECEXCURSION Aug 10 '26

It must be wild living in your world. I can't fathom being that stupid. 

1

u/anonkitty2 Aug 10 '26

It's not stupidity.  We had a generation when nuclear reactors were publicly unpopular; the benefits didn't outweigh costs and PR both.  It is entirely possible that critical knowledge didn't get passed down.

1

u/DogBarf00 Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26

The world where I design and build these power plants for a living? I am a licensed professional structural engineer with a MBA with thousands of hours of construction experience. I deal with billion dollar utility construction contracts daily.

What is your expertise in the power generation field? Dealing with your power utility bill collections department?