Data-centers aren't a reason to use more fossil fuels

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:44:29 -0500

There are lots of good arguments in this Canary Media editorial by Amory Lovins and Justin Locke: AI: Does not compute. The dirty, expensive, and failing fossil fuel industry are more than happy to ride the panic-driven AI bubble to energy expansion, building out new plants as fast as they can. But that’s a terrible idea, and we shouldn’t allow it. If you want more power in 2026, it has to be clean power. That’s not even an obstacle! It’s the smarter, cheaper, faster way to do it.

As Lovins and Locke put it:

Renewables also offer essential speed. In Sparks, Nevada, the world’s largest solar-powered microgrid continuously powers modular data centers. Solar panels laid on desert ground feed hundreds of second-life electric-vehicle batteries joined to form a superbattery. It was all built in four months and delivers electricity that’s cheaper, quieter, and more reliable than grid power; uses virtually no water; emits nothing; and is even portable. This is what clean, scalable, market-speed power looks like. Gas isn’t it.

data-centers on Solar Noon

Data-centers aren't a reason to use more fossil fuels