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Amazon is switching its data centers to gas fuel cells

At a time when environmental activists are trying to limit carbon emissions into the atmosphere, Amazon plans to provide its data center needs with electricity generated using “environmentally harmful” natural gas.

The company’s initial plan includes installing about 75 MW of fuel cells at three data centers. Perhaps in the future the project will be expanded.

Fuel cells extract electricity from a fuel such as natural gas or hydrogen without the need for combustion. In the case of hydrogen, the only by-products of this reaction are electricity and water vapor, but in the case of natural gas, the by-product of the reaction is CO2, the emissions of which the Greens are trying so hard to limit.

Amazon will use natural gas fuel cells as the main power source for its data centers.

An Amazon spokesperson explains: “We are constantly innovating to minimize our impact on our neighbors, local resources and the environment, and this technology provides a path to less harmful [environmentally] solutions.”

Meanwhile, as a relentless focus on the environment, the company said in 2021 that its CO2 emissions increased by 18 percent. Perhaps, if a stable supply of hydrogen can be secured, fuel cells will be converted to use a 50/50 mixture of hydrogen and natural gas, or upgraded to run solely on hydrogen.

Particularly curious, the news comes against the backdrop of ongoing demands from officials trying to limit the use of domestic gas stoves. The latest scandal, which thundered quite recently, even forced the White House administration to intervene in it. As assured in Washington: “President Biden does not support such a ban.”

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