Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines

Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines in hopes of sparing residents from data centers’ excessive water use and noise and air pollution. The state has the most abandoned coal mines in the United States, roughly 5,586, which could provide an alternative to destroying farmlands or local forests for data centers, Jessica Klein writes for Inside Climate News.

The underground pools found in mines could cool data centers without the help of outside water sources, and developers cover the cost of cleaning up the contamination in and around abandoned coal mines. Inside Climate News reports:

“If the data centers can demonstrate that they can clean up, treat the acid water and help restore their local environment, the local people are more likely to accept such development proposals,” says Zhongyang He, a researcher in Penn State’s Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering who’s been examining possible data center development on abandoned mine lands in the state.

Two data center developments in coal mines are already in the works in Western Pennsylvania: the former Robena Mine is slated to become a data center, and another proposed data center may find its home at the former Consol coal mine.