As AI data centers expand, new cooling chemicals raise PFAS concerns
The expansion of AI data centers is driving demand for new cooling chemicals, some of which contain PFAS, raising significant environmental concerns in North Carolina. Environmental groups are urging the EPA not to approve Chemours' new PFAS-based cooling fluid, Opteon 2P50, while state regulators face challenges in monitoring these chemicals. North Carolina lawmakers also considered a bill to add guardrails for data center resource demands.
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers is creating a new market for cooling chemicals, including those based on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which are raising significant environmental concerns in North Carolina. Chemours, a company previously involved in widespread PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear region, is developing Opteon 2P50, a fluorinated fluid intended for data center cooling, which the company claims could dramatically reduce water and energy consumption.
A coalition of 17 environmental organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Earthjustice, is actively urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to approve 2P50 and other new PFAS uses. They express skepticism about the fluid's promised closed-loop system, citing potential releases during manufacturing, use, maintenance, and disposal. Chemours has provided the EPA with technical information for the approval process but declined to provide requested data and studies to WRAL, including full-scale testing results, emissions information, or data supporting its water and energy savings claims.
In North Carolina, major data center developers like Amazon, with planned facilities in Richmond County, and Microsoft, building in Person and Catawba counties, have stated they will not use liquid immersion cooling with PFAS chemicals. Amazon plans to use air-cooling predominantly, switching to evaporative cooling on hotter days, while Microsoft aims for air-cooled chillers and closed, recirculating water loops. The NC Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) acknowledges reviewing data center permit applications under existing laws but faces questions regarding the disclosure and monitoring of new cooling chemicals.
North Carolina lawmakers considered Senate Bill 730 this year, which included provisions for certain data centers to use closed-loop cooling to minimize water consumption, but the bill stalled. Environmental advocates warn that the pace of data center development is outrunning regulatory understanding and the ability to track potential pollution from these complex facilities, emphasizing the need for better standards and research to avoid repeating past environmental issues with PFAS.