Meta pilots renewable diesel use for power generation in Ireland

Tech giant Meta is eyeing the biofuels market in a bid to diversify the power source for its energy and emissions-intensive data centers.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and WhatsApp, has started pilots of renewable diesel(opens in a new tab), also known as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), for its backup power generators as an alternative to diesel, the company said Aug. 29 in its 2024 sustainability report.

"We are transitioning our backup generator fleet at our Clonee, Ireland data center to use HVO in 2024 to determine if the solution is a viable option for our full data center fleet," Meta said.

Many technology giants like Google, Microsoft and Meta, are seeing a steady rise in greenhouse gas emissions, in a big part due to their reliance on data centers.

These data centers are currently very reliant on diesel-powered generators. Meta burnt 1.73 million gallons of diesel in 2023, down 22% from 2.10 million in 2022, which was in itself a 43% rise on the previous year, company data showed.

Meta acknowledged that "diesel consumption from backup power generation accounts for a considerable portion of the operational emissions" from its data centers. The company plans to achieve net zero emissions across its value chain in 2030.

HVO volumes have been negligible to date, Meta burnt 1,144 gallons of it in 2023 and none previously, the data showed.

In July, Google said increased electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence and its growing fleet of data centers has caused the company's greenhouse gas emissions to soar by 48% above its 2019 baseline, creating a challenge for the tech giant in meeting its carbon neutrality goals by 2030.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the RD cost of production based on used cooking oil in Northwest Europe at $1,893/metric ton Aug. 28.

The renewable diesel market has seen some headwinds of late, these include the availability of feedstock and the certification of imports(opens in a new tab).