Meta’s natural gas intake could extend to South Dakota

Data centers have grown so large that their capacity is comparable to that of all US states. Take Meta’s Hyperion AI data center, for example. When completed, the new AI data center will draw as much electricity as South Dakota.

Last week, Meta announced that it would be offering cash seven gas power plants – on top of three that have already committed to building – supporting a $27 billion data center. Combined, the 10 power plants in Louisiana will generate approximately 7.5 gigawatts of electricity, a little more more powerful than the entire Government of Mount Rushmore.

Like many tech companies, Meta has been reporting on climate and environmental issues for years. It regularly publishes regular reports, and often cries about it buy renewable energy. They bought a nuclear power plant for 20 years.

Meta’s Hyperion data center in Louisiana will test the company’s efforts.

Natural gas has long been hailed as the “bridge fuel” — create a small natural gas station where renewables, batteries, and nuclear get their feet under them. This is how the Meta agrees to move in.

But people have been building an oil rig over the years, and it’s worn a little. Renewables and batteries have fallen in price while the cost of gas turbines it has risen to heaven. Meta has been a lead the buyer of solar, batteries, and nuclear in recent years, making the decision to major in natural gas even more confusing.

TechCrunch reached out to Meta. The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The largest turbines in Louisiana will emit 12.4 million tons of CO₂ space every year, according to calculations by TechCrunch, which comes from the Department of Energy. This is 50% more than Meta’s carbon footprint in 2024, the most recent year such figures are available.

This figure is an underestimate of climate impact, as it does not include natural gas emissions.

Methane, the main component of the gas, warms the world 84 times more than carbon dioxide. Even a 0.2% leakage along the supply chain can affect the gas climate worse than coal. In the US, gas production and pipelines leak methane at similar rates about 3%. It is not clean energy at all.

The company’s latest report does not mention methane emissions. It does not mention methane or natural gas at all. And yet this oil is poised to be one of the biggest contributors to Meta’s carbon footprint in the coming years.

The company can stick to its climate promises and find a way to deal with those emissions through emissions reductions. But now there is a need for more information about it, as well as an honest estimate of how much methane will be released into the atmosphere to help feed new electricity.