A Startup Wants to Power Data Centers With ‘Supercritical’ Carbon Dioxide
Startup American Supercritical has raised $8 million to retrofit inefficient gas-fired data center turbines with supercritical CO2 technology. This process aims to increase energy efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of power-hungry data centers.
Why it matters
As data center power demand skyrockets, improving the efficiency of existing fossil-fuel infrastructure is critical to mitigating the climate impact of digital expansion.
American Supercritical came out of stealth Wednesday, announcing $8 million in funding. It wants to retrofit inefficient gas turbines that many data centers rely on for power with units that can generate more power, without adding more emissions (though the gas-fired turbines will continue to emit carbon pollution). The technology can also theoretically be used on a wide variety of energy sources at a time when power demand is skyrocketing.
“We want to start with gas turbines but eventually expand beyond that,” says cofounder Simon Shuham.
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