Data Centre Cooling Solutions with Direct Air Capture

9 February 2026

By Dr John Breen, Chief Technology Officer at NEG8 Carbon

Data centre cooling accounts for 40% of a data centre’s energy consumption (Science Direct), and this critical challenge has compelled a search for sustainable cooling alternatives. The solutions that make use of a data centre’s waste heat in cooling applications are those that are showing the most promise.

The Challenges Facing Data Centres

Data centres’ endless demand for power, and in some cases water, puts nearby communities and national supplies at risk, and furthermore, there is also an increase in carbon emissions.

The Big Three Challenges:

Energy demand from cooling and IT systems’ 24/7 operations
At the current rate of growth, data centres energy use globally could double by 2030 (org). Renewable energy is insufficient and not consistent enough to completely power a data centre which means fossil fuels are still in the picture.
Carbon emissions from high energy usage
Since data centres still rely heavily on the grid, carbon emissions relating to data centres continue to rise. As it stands, data centres are set to emit 1.6 giga tonnes of CO₂ per year over the next decade. A favourable solution to this problem is to pair data centre energy sources with carbon capture.
Water usage
Data centres may use water for cooling.

Although all these issues are intertwined and need dealing with in their own right, the focus will be on data centre cooling in this article, and particularly on the innovative cooling options offered by NEG8 Carbon’s technology.

Conventional Cooling Options for Data Centres

First, let us look at the standard cooling systems in data centres. These systems rely on forced air and mechanical chillers and they require continuous electrical power. The conventional cooling approaches include:

Air cooling: Heat is removed by circulating conditioned air through server racks using fans and computer room air handling units.
Direct-to-chip liquid cooling: Coolant is circulated through cold plates mounted on processors to remove heat at the source.
Immersion cooling: Servers are submerged in a dielectric (non-conductive) fluid that absorbs heat directly from electronic components.
Rear door heat exchanger cooling: Heat is removed by a liquid-cooled heat exchanger mounted on the rear of server racks.

Direct-to-chip liquid cooling, rear door heat exchanger cooling and immersion cooling are closed loop systems, as the coolant/fluid is recirculated within a sealed circuit.

Air cooling is not a closed loop system, as heat rejection depends on continuous air exchange and, in many cases involves evaporative cooling, and resultant water loss.

Sustainable Cooling Alternatives for Data Centres

NEG8 Carbon’s technology offers two cooling options that use adsorption/desorption principles for cooling. NEG8 uses the waste heat from the data centres to power its process and can integrate Direct Air Capture (DAC) with cooling and water harvesting.

Cooling approaches:

1. Desorption Cooling with Carbon Capture/Water Harvesting

In this mode, heat is used to desorb CO₂ and/or water, reducing the heat transfer fluid temperature from around 65°C to 55°C. This heat extraction lowers energy demand on conventional cooling systems.

2. Adsorption Cooling with Carbon Capture/Water Harvesting

During the adsorption phase, water is cooled from around 50°C to ambient temperature. This output can be used within the facility’s cooling loop. Both modes 1 and 2 produce cooling effects as a by-product of the Direct Air Capture/Water Harvesting cycle. Operationally, this is analogous to dry-cooling practices where ambient air is drawn across a heat exchanger to remove thermal energy.

Depending on client requirements, NEG8 systems can be configured for:

Cooling + Water Harvesting or
CO₂ Capture + Cooling + Water Harvesting

In summary, NEG8 Carbon’s technology delivers multiple benefits for data centres:

Carbon capture
Cooling
Water harvesting
Waste heat usage

Waste heat usage is part of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive which states that data centres with a total rated power exceeding 1 MW must use their waste heat for heating purposes or other energy recovery applications unless it is technically or economically unfeasible.

Additionally, NEG8’s technology offers opportunities for further revenue streams, such as utilisation of the captured CO₂ and the sale of carbon credits.

Conclusion

Large energy users and waste heat producers such as data centres can cool their facilities while at the same time producing water and capturing CO₂. NEG8’s system offers operational benefits and diversifies revenue pathways while supporting wider environmental performance objectives.

Read here for more on how Direct Air Capture and data centres can work together.

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Interested in NEG8 Carbon’s CO₂ capture technology?

Contact the NEG8 Carbon Team