{"id":116585,"date":"2026-08-10T11:20:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T09:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=116585"},"modified":"2026-08-10T11:20:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T09:20:43","slug":"an-amazon-data-center-could-have-the-worst-polluting-power-plant-in-the-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/economy\/an-amazon-data-center-could-have-the-worst-polluting-power-plant-in-the-country\/","title":{"rendered":"An Amazon data center could have the worst polluting power plant in the country"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An Amazon-owned site in Pecos County, Texas, received a permit to release up to 33 million tons of CO2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To power its new West Texas data center, Amazon is investing in the construction of a new power plant that could be one of the largest single producers of greenhouse gases in the US, according to the New York Times<\/em><\/a>. The new gas-burning plant in Pecos County, Texas has received significant investment from Amazon and, at least initially, would not be connected to the state\u2019s power grid. Instead, its 35 natural-gas turbines would primarily deliver its 7.65 gigawatts of electricity to the new data center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Cleanview<\/em><\/a>, which tracks data centers and their associated power projects, GW Ranch received a permit from Texas allowing for the emission of up to 33 million tons of CO2, more than even the largest coal plant in the country. Plants rarely emit as much greenhouse gas as their permits allow, but it\u2019s still notable that the restrictions on its pollution levels are so lax. Amazon has confirmed that it purchased the site and plans to purchase power from GW Ranch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many companies, including Meta<\/a> and Google<\/a>, have started building their own power plants<\/a>, turning to gas<\/a>, coal, and other non-renewable energy sources as the demands of AI data centers have skyrocketed<\/a>. The Trump administration has sought to lift restrictions<\/a> on such polluting<\/a> power plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if the GW Ranch site only emits a portion of the greenhouse gases it\u2019s permitted to, it would still represent a significant setback for Amazon\u2019s Climate Pledge<\/a>. Jeff Bezos pledged to make his company carbon neutral by 2040<\/a>. However, its emissions have climbed for several years in a row due to the demands of AI. Amazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan told the New York Times<\/em> that, \u201cThe world looks different now than when we co-founded the climate pledge,\u201d but that, \u201cour commitment hasn\u2019t changed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upadate August 9th:<\/strong> Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan provided the following statement to The Verge:<\/em> Amazon believes in paying the full costs of powering our operations. Our new planned data center campus in Pecos County does just that: it\u2019s powered by new on-site generation that won\u2019t raise electricity costs for Texas families and is designed to transition to grid-connected service as interconnection timelines allow. We\u2019re also exploring opportunities for solar energy and battery storage on site. To ensure we don\u2019t put stress on the local watershed, we\u2019ll use water that isn\u2019t suitable for drinking or irrigation, custom cooling technology that minimizes water use wherever possible, and we\u2019ll explore the beneficial use of produced water as an additional non-potable source. This new data center campus in Pecos County is a long-term commitment that we expect will create thousands of new jobs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n