Direct Air Capture and Data Centres Working Together
12 November 2025
Data centres could use Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology as a decarbonisation lever with DAC using the waste heat from the data centres to power the carbon capture process.
Data Centres Consume Astronomical Amounts of Energy and Emit Millions of Tonnes of CO₂
Data centres have become indispensable to our digital-dependent way of life, however, their operations are energy-intensive with vast electricity requirements to run servers and cool equipment.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centres world-wide will consume over 1000TWh of electricity by 2026, contributing to substantial CO₂ emissions. These emissions are expected to be in the region of 2.5 billion tonnes through 2030.
Data centres are well aware of the heavy emissions burden they carry, and the hyperscale players like Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon have all voiced their commitment to dealing with this issue.
For example, in July 2025 Microsoft announced in its sustainability report that it had started powering DAC technology with waste heat from its data centres in its DACinDC project as a “pathway for addressing the CO₂ footprint of AI workloads.”
Meanwhile, Google has entered into an agreement to buy electricity to power it’s data centres in the US Midwest region from a gas power plant that uses carbon capture and storage. This is in the wake of the surge in data centre demand for processing AI.
How Direct Air Capture and Data Centres can Work Together
Both data centres and DAC projects rely on sustainable energy sources to reduce their environmental impact, but renewable capacity remains limited. This situation highlights the need for innovative approaches to balance energy distribution.
Waste Heat from Data Centres Presents an Opportunity
One solution is integrating DAC systems into data centre sites.
| CO₂ for Utilisation |
 |
Direct Air Capture involves extracting CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, which is then permanently stored or utilized for industrial applications. (How Does Direct Air Capture Work?)
To function effectively, DAC systems require a relatively large amount of energy (although advances in technology are bringing this usage down), which must be sourced from renewables or waste heat.
On the other hand, data centres are considerable generators of heat. By using waste heat from data centres to power DAC technology, the two industries could coexist more sustainably.
This collaboration would maximise energy efficiency and the DAC-captured CO₂ would reduce the data centres’ overall emissions. In the end, this symbiotic relationship would lower the environmental footprint of both industries.
For more, see: Direct Air Capture Use Cases Using Waste Heat
EU Regulations Drive Waste Heat Use for Data Centres
EU Energy Efficiency Framework
Required Actions Regarding Waste Heat Utilization
- Data centres with a total rated energy input exceeding 1 MW must prepare to utilise waste heat or other waste heat recovery applications or provide justification if it is not technically or economically feasible.
- Data centres need to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to assess the economic feasibility of increased heat or cooling supply costs for certain newly planned or substantially refurbished data centres with a total rated energy input exceeding 1 MW.
Germany’s Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG)
The EnEfG mandates increasing energy efficiency standards for data centers, requiring new facilities from July 2026 to meet a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.2 and an ERF (Energy Reuse Factor) of 10%. The act imposes phased deadlines for data centers, including requirements for using green electricity, implementing energy management systems, and submitting energy consumption data to the government. Older data centers will also need to meet PUE targets of 1.5 by July 2027 and 1.3 by July 2030.
Required Actions for Waste Heat Utilisation and Avoidance
- If a data centre goes into operation from 1 July 2026, operators must ensure at least 10% reused energy (ERF – Energy Reuse Factor), increasing to 20% for commissioning from 1 July 2028.
- Operators need to ensure necessary infrastructure and technology for waste heat utilisation.
Data Centres in Ireland
In Ireland, the percentage of total metered electricity consumption used by data centres rose from 5% in 2015 to 21% in 2023. [Central Statistics Office, Ireland]
Furthermore, in early 2025, the Irish government announced a proposed new rule that looking ahead data centres would have to supply their own source of power and that it need not be from renewable energy.
For a more in depth look into the proposal, see: Green light proposed for data centre expansion without green energy stipulations (Irish Independent) and Data centres to supply electricity under proposed new rules (The Irish Times). This raises the question of the unabated carbon emissions that would come from this power generation.
In an interview on RTE Radio’s ‘Today with Claire Byrne’, Claire discussed the issue of the energy consumption of data centres and the impact on the electricity grid.
Guest on the show, Sadhbh O’Neill, Coordinator of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition in Ireland cautions:
“The scale of the energy demand from data centres is a serious worry. It threatens to blow through our carbon budgets and climate targets.”
Another guest on the show, Alan O’Reilly of Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd, adds:
“The full decarbonisation of electricity is the ultimate goal, but that is a long way off. In the meantime, we need to look at how we can offset the effects of power generation and waste heat on the environment in terms of the emissions created. We need to look at solutions.”
Final Thought
The growing demand for data centres reflects our reliance on digital services, and this dependence is unlikely to wane. Collaboration between industries, supported by robust policy frameworks, can set a course for a more sustainable future. By balancing the needs of data centres and DAC projects, we can create a model where technology and environmental stewardship go hand in hand.
An interesting article in The Guardian sheds more light on the situation: Energy Demands from AI Data Centres to Quadruple by 2030, Says Report
For more:
- What is Direct Air Capture?
- Why Removing CO2 from the Atmosphere is Urgent
- How Does CO₂ Cause Climate Change?
- What is the Value of a Carbon Credit?