Apple Will Use Landfill Gas to Power Data Center

Date: April 30, 2012

Source: News Room

Apple, perhaps taking a page from Microsoft, plans to power its North Carolina data center using fuel cells running on landfill gas. It is part of an ambitious plan to operate using 60 percent on-site renewable energy. According to regulatory filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Apple will use biogas from landfills that is cleaned and injected into the local natural gas pipeline (Directed Biogas) to fuel 4.8 megawatts of fuel cells. Fuel cells offer the advantage of converting biogas or natural gas to power more efficiently than combustion, without significant air emissions and with fewer moving parts. In this case, they will be using a renewable energy source and will not be dependent on the often unreliable energy grid.

See also: "Microsoft Wants Future Data Centers to Run on Landfill Gas," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20120425B.htm), April 23, 2012.

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