Full title: Microsoft is using wetlands and native gardens to ‘camouflage’ 20-plus data center sites by blending them into nature — critics blast the ‘biomimicry’ effort as ‘lipstick on a pig’ amid a 20-year gas power deal
Full title: Microsoft is using wetlands and native gardens to ‘camouflage’ 20-plus data center sites by blending them into nature — critics blast the ‘biomimicry’ effort as ‘lipstick on a pig’ amid a 20-year gas power deal
Data centers aren’t heavy industry. They do emit some minor pollutants but not excessive amounts. You make it sound like there is an open sewer pipe oozing black sludge.
They will generate huge amounts of heat, both from the generation of the power they will use and from their actual running.
Yes. But that’s going to create winds and convection, not pollution. Less so if cooled evaporatively or using said wetland as a heat sink(unlikely). They might even be good for the water table.
What. Half the hue and cry is because they’re a huge waste of water unnecessarily because economics.
The renaturation might be really good. I don’t know how the site looked before.
Have a look. https://petapixel.com/2026/09/19/before-and-after-photos-show-data-centers-furiously-popping-up-across-america/
Yeah, but this article describes Microsoft exactly not doing that.
Let’s quote the article, shall we?
The goal is to “minimize the visual impact on communities near our data centers.” Not to actually be sustainable, but to look less offensive to the casual observer.
“I cannot really see any level of biomimicry investment that makes a gas plant a desirable neighbor.” Me neither.
“Emissions have risen by Microsoft’s own accounting, too.” It is pollution.
“Microsoft had no clear answer when questioned if it would ever change its mind on a site.” They are raping the planet we live on. Please think.
You do know that when water evaporates the wind carries it away, right? And most of the time very far away from where it originally evaporated.
The renaturation not the evaporative cooling.
It specifically mentions gas power. The air will be polluted and living things breathing that air will suffer. “AI” data centers are waste generators and planet heaters. The goal is to further wreck the environment and kill most of us. The rich think they can survive it somehow. It is unacceptable.
Power plants typically connect via the grid, hence aren’t local to the data center. Changing over is trivial. All industry generates waste and consumes energy. That’s not their purpose and framing it as such makes you sound like a raving lunatic. Destroying the environment isn’t profitable. Same goes for killing everyone. You have a warped perception of reality.
You must not be following the news. Many data centers get local power from on premises gas turbines and more than a couple are doing so illegally. Put ‘ data center gas turbine’ into your favorite news aggregator and there’s hundreds of articles about this.
Then they wouldn’t be clearcutting the amazon rainforest.
Cutting wood is profitable. Creating clear cuts isn’t.
But they don’t have to, and they don’t generally ask, just do.
Not being forced to follow environmental regulations (hence destroying the environment) is significantly more profitable than following them.
Or do you think op is talking about companies who produce literally nothing but harm to the environment?