Ever run into a problem and think, “This is a load of bull sh*t”? So have we, and apparently so has Microsoft. So much so that it is building a data center for people that will run entirely on, well, crap.
The center will be based in Cheyenne, Wyoming according to the Daily Mail and will run entirely on biogas (a.k.a. methane) that will be extracted from the “leftovers” of people and animals. In short, they’ll be flushing your data stream with everything you flush down the toilet.
How does it work?
Microsoft wanted to make a facility that could run entirely off the grid and use as much waste product as possible along the way to cut down its carbon footprint. To that end it’s employing a 300kw energy generator designed by FuelCell Energy that will take scrubbed methane gas extracted from waste collection areas to power the facility.
The goal is to use the facility as an 18 month experiment to judge just how feasible using methane waste as an alternative fuel source may be, and after that 18 month experiment is up it will then donate the entire facility to the city of Cheyenne and the University of Wyoming for further research.
Pretty cool, eh?
With the goal of engineering a sustainable data plan in mind Sean James, Microsoft senior research program manager, put it pretty squarely by saying in a blog post “These plants cannot go offline any more than a community can stop flushing.”
That said, crap away Wyoming residents! Your internet may soon depend upon it.