As part of its plan to combat climate change, Microsoft wants to completely ditch the use of diesel as fuel for its backup power systems by 2030. To keep the data centers running 24/7, regardless of a power outage, each center is equipped with batteries, which are activated temporarily until backup generators kick in.
Currently, these generators run on diesel, which emits air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, hydrogen fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, releasing heat and water without other pollution. Batteries can also store clean energy, but are generally not capable of powering a data center for more than a few hours at most.
A three-megawatt hydrogen fuel cell system was designed and tested to power about 10,000 computer servers in a data center.
Microsoft began developing fuel cell technology in 2013. However, at the time, the fuel cells it used were still reliant on natural gas.
By 2018, the company had turned its attention to proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology that could use pure hydrogen. But Microsoft said it couldn't find any supplier of PEM fuel cell systems large enough to meet its data center needs. So Microsoft asked Plug Power, an expert in hydrogen fuel cell systems, to build a custom system. Microsoft and Plug tested the system for several weeks in June. After successfully testing a prototype, Plug is working to create a simplified commercial version. Microsoft said it will next install the system in a research data center, and there is no clear target date for bringing the technology to one of its live data centers.
Hydrogen is currently touted as a clean alternative to fossil fuels.
In the future, Microsoft hopes to use only "green" hydrogen made with renewable energy rather than fossil fuels.
