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Apple's North Carolina Data Center Will Feature Biogas Generators
1sockchuck writes "Apple's North Carolina data center will tap landfills for biogas, which will then be converted into electricity using fuel cells from Bloom Energy. The 24 'Bloom boxes' will have a capacity of 4.8 megawatts of power, and along with a large solar array, will provide Apple with a significant on-site generation of sustainable energy. Microsoft is also developing biogas-powered data plants where modular data centers will be housed near water treatment plants and landfills. GigaOm has a useful primer on biogas in data centers, as well as video of the new higher capacity Bloom boxes that will support Apple's server farm."
I thought "biogas" referred to bovine flatulence.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Last time I checked other than iTunes Apple doesn't really have any massive public facing services. At least not compared to the scale that Amazon and Google have.
"The 24 'Bloom boxes' will have a capacity of 4.8 megawatts of power"
I wonder how long it will take before they'll be called "fart boxes", eventually?
Or something to that effect.
Biogas generators, as in... cows?
Ah, arrogance and stupidity, all in the same package. How efficient of you. -- Londo Mollari
Anybody seen the insides of a Bloom box?
meanwhile, all google can think of is switching off the lights!
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/03/super-secret-google-builds-servers-in-the-dark.ars
And here I thought the only thing Apple recycled was the iPod. First the iPod. Then the iPod, 3G edition. Then the iPod displayless/TV edition, then the iPod XL. Soon we'll have the iPod 4G/LTE edition. Maybe they'll bless us with an iPod XXL (Apple branded TVs) soon, too.
Gore is an Apple board member and a partner of Bloom Energy owner Kleiner Perkins.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
How long will it take, until they don't get enough waste and will turn to that "green" alternative of turning maize into gas, which is even more effective than their current plans. That's at least what the greenies in Germany do. Who cares about feeding the world, if you can be green?
They might be really trying to use this for some power, but its more likely just for show. I'm sure at the first sign of trouble the jump to the utility or diesel generators. I don't understand why companies are dumping so much money into new and possibly unreliable tech for a data center they want 100% up time on. They would be better off, using low power lighting and better cooling tech, and other low power solutions. Think about how much extra equipment they have to buy and maintan, On top of the industry standard of UPS, with battery/generator back up they have to buy and maintain, solar panels/batteries and crap powered fuel cells, which tend to have problems due to the dirty fuel.
I can contribute some biogas
Sure, bio-gas, solar panels, it all sounds great. But, it's not like we are growing this stuff on trees. It would be interesting to know if someone were to determine the actual cost of mining the earth -which in a way we do for fossil fuels- for the rare-earth metals for solar cells, high-power magnets, and the like. It might seem like a good idea now but how long until we have mowed down all the mountains?
North Carolina is best Carolina
Even if these produce twice much power as the previous generation, as the article claims, that's still probably about $4.00/Watt. If it's 60% efficient, like he claims, that's equivalent to a combined cycle plant, which typically will cost about $0.50/Watt. Why would you pay 8 times more for this? Is there any benefit?
I'm surprised it has taken this long for some corporates to utilise an abundant and seemingly inexhaustive energy source. Eco points to Apple, Microsoft and others doing this.
Let me show you my thing; it's the most advanced on the planet.
We actually are mowing down the mountains in nearby West Virginia for coal. The coal extraction technique is called "mountaintop removal". Google it -- it ain't pretty. Mining the material for PV or bloom boxes doesn't have anywhere near that kind of impact, in part because the material is part of the generator, not part of the fuel.
This stuff is replacing the need for coal, and coal is what the mowing down of mountains is all about.
Support a few technologists in Washington.
Now I see the real purpose behind that private restaurant at Apple they where talking about! "Pea soup and cabbage today again??"
They'll be serving baked beans in their new private restaurant.
Of course they need Big Ass Generators, it's an Apple Data Center for crying out loud.
Image is the very essence of every Apple product. The company has built a cult like following around itself and its products because of image. Only recently with iPhone and iPad has there been anything really revolutionary from Apple, and even now it's still mostly image.
So, when Apple spends a pittance of its massive cash reserve on new technology that may or may not pan out, but will maintain or improve its corporate image, it is a great investment.
Also, tax breaks!
We already got that implemented. It peaks on days when we order curry ...
As if working in a data center wasn't already a shitty job, now companies looking to take advantage of biogas are going to locate them next to sewage treatment plants and landfills? Hooooo, wonderful!
Maybe next month they'll figure out how to tap power from rotting paper and hog fat and we can get data centers backed up to paper mills and rendering plants.
A thunderdome will be installed to quickly solve technical disputes.
Or an iThunderdome, if they invent it fast enough.
First of all, enjoy a good chuckle at the term 'Biogas'. Most literature refers to it as 'Landfill gas' and the majority of landfill locations think of it as a waste product to be disposed of as cheaply as possible, mostly through flaring operations. The term 'Biogas' was invented by someone that that wanted to game California's renewable energy programs.
As a fuel, it's marginal, having about 500 BTU per standard cubic foot of gas. Most sources are 10% nitrogen, 40% CO2, 45% methane and the balance oxygen, H2S, water, ethane, ect. The energy cost to clean the gas up to the point where something as high tech as a Bloom Box can use it can reach 60% of the energy of the entire gas stream, as water and CO2 removal are both energy expensive operations.
Still, with all it's disadvantages, I hope Apple is able to make the system work reliably, if only because it's a hard engineering problem they are tackling. And it will be a good proof-of-practicality for the Bloom Boxes.
Couldn't be far away..
^ Probably Sarcasm...
3...
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Hey! You! Stop that! I didn't say you could start yet!
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
Capturing methane from landfills keeps a potent greenhouse gas our of the atmosphere.