Direct Air Capture – A Solution to Data Centre Emissions
Direct Air Capture (DAC) could be the answer to the enormous headache of CO₂ emissions from data centres.
Data Centres Consume Astronomical Amounts of Energy
Data centres power everything from streaming platforms to cloud storage, making them indispensable. 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 consumed 460TWh world-wide in 2022 and this is set to rise to over 1000TWh by 2026, contributing to substantial CO₂ emissions. [IEA Report: Electricity 2024]
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]
Data centres are well aware of the heavy emissions burden they carry, and the use of renewable energy by data centres has grown, with companies investing in solar, wind, and hydropower. Big players like Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon have all voiced their commitment to using renewable energy.
Yet, the demand for energy continues to rise as digital services expand. In January 2025, the $500 billion Stargate Project was announced. This giant AI initiative by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle and MGX will require large data centres for training and deploying these AI systems, and the concomitant power resources to run them.
The US Department of Energy forecasts that at this rate, data centres will account for about 12% of the nation’s electricity by 2028. Additionally, Microsoft announced it plans to spend $80 billion this year (2025) on AI data centres.
This level of growth puts pressure on renewable energy supplies, leaving DAC projects competing for these clean energy resources.
In early 2025, the Irish government announced a proposed new rule that 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).
How Direct Air Capture and Data Centres can Work Together
There is a tussle over who gets the biggest piece of the renewable energy pie. 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.
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.
In an interview on RTE Radio’s ‘Today with Claire Byrne’, Claire discussed the issue of the enormous 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.”
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.
For more:
- What is Direct Air Capture?
- Why Removing CO2 from the Atmosphere is Urgent
- How Does CO₂ Cause Climate Change?
- Have you Considered the Time Value of Carbon Credits?