California company proposes building data center in oil field

A proposed data center project aims to skirt community opposition by placing the data center campus in an oil field, reports Jake Bittle in Grist.

According to Bittle, similar projects are being proposed in Texas and Pennsylvania. "These projects are seen as a way of juicing revenues for legacy producers, even as the California project is unfolding in a state that has been trying to phase out fossil fuels."

In California's Central Valley, the California Resources Corporation is framing the proposal as a "responsible development" approach to the growing AI sector that would repurpose an existing industrial site and create jobs and tax revenue. "The proposed Golden Valley Technology Hub will sit on 100 acres within an oil field that stretches across tens of thousands of acres, and will sit more than a mile from the nearest homes. The project will also face strict environmental review, which could take about a year."

As Bittle explains, "While the Kern County data center will rely on fossil fuels when many others draw power from the wind or sun, CRC is expanding its business to focus on carbon capture. Just this year it launched a first-of-its-kind system that captures CO2 emitted by another oilfield gas plant and stores it in depleted wells, and plans to build such a system for the plant that will supply the data center." The project could help CRC advance its transition away from fossil fuel production, but climate groups say the proposal could release more carbon dioxide and pollutants into the air. "Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, and a number of other groups sued the county over its approval of the carbon capture project, and litigation is ongoing."