Microsoft tests fuel cells for energy production in data centers

Microsoft is experimenting with the use of fuel cells to power servers. By connecting data centers directly to a gas pipeline, the energy supply chain could be greatly simplified, the company expects.

Microsoft has built a test rig with twenty racks on which the fuel cells are built in its home base of Seattle under the name Advanced Energy Lab. The fuel cells are connected to gas pipes in order to be able to continuously convert the fuel into electrical energy.

The aim of the pilot is to investigate to what extent the advantages, including high efficiency, outweigh the disadvantages of the fuel cells, such as the high price. Traditionally, data centers are connected to the electricity network, but a lot of loss occurs when the electricity is transported. By generating electricity directly at the servers, Microsoft can eliminate the many intermediate steps in the transport of electricity, resulting in less loss, increasing reliability and lowering costs.

Microsoft has been experimenting for some time with the use of fuel cells, including the use of biogas to power servers. Data centers account for an increasing share of energy consumption. In the US, they were still responsible for an estimated 0.8 percent of electricity consumption in 2000, but that has now risen to about 2 percent, the Seattle Times cites research from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy.