Carbon capture seen as fastest route to cut data centre emissions, Wood Mackenzie says
Friday, May 15 2026 - 11:26 AM WIB
By Romel S. Gurky
Carbon capture technology linked to natural gas power generation offers the fastest and most scalable route to decarbonize rapidly growing data centre power demand, according to a new report by Wood Mackenzie.
The consultancy said global data centres consumed around 450 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2025, producing about 0.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, with demand expected to require an additional 100 gigawatts to 200 gigawatts of power capacity by 2030.
Wood Mackenzie said U.S. data centres currently emit about 548 kilograms of CO2 per megawatt-hour, around 48% higher than the national grid average, as natural gas dominates near-term power additions for artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure.
“With gas power dominating buildouts right now and 58 GW already in development in Texas alone, the practical question isn't whether data centers will use gas, it's whether that gas will be decarbonized,” said Peter Findlay, director of CCUS analytics at Wood Mackenzie.
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The report said adding carbon capture to combined-cycle gas plants would increase electricity costs by US$15 to $45 per megawatt-hour in the United States after tax incentives, bringing total costs to around $115 per megawatt-hour. The technology can capture between 92% and 98% of emissions and be deployed within three to four years, Wood Mackenzie said.
The consultancy said enhanced geothermal systems could become a lower-cost decarbonization option after 2030, with projected costs as low as $61 per megawatt-hour, although the technology remains at an early development stage.
Wood Mackenzie also said nuclear restart projects and long-duration energy storage could support low-carbon power supply for data centres, but both face scalability and cost challenges.
The report noted that renewable energy and battery storage would continue contributing to broader grid decarbonization, but said intermittent solar and wind generation alone could not meet the continuous uptime requirements of hyperscale data centres without substantial gas backup capacity.
Editing by Alexander Ginting