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Microsoft says the approach is now part of all new projects in the U.S. The goal is to blend “data centers into the natural landscape” at sites across the United States and Germany, gauging community input and using ecological research to map the local environment. Microsoft’s team uses a tool called Ecosystem Intelligence, which runs on Azure and scores various features of the site, including water quality, biodiversity, and noise abatement.
Solutions, according to Microsoft’s director of global land strategy, Kaitlin Chuzi, are customized to the local habitat and should restore what was lost, while plant buffers quiet data center humming and help “minimize the visual impact on communities near our data centers.” Named sites include Mecklenburg County, Virginia; Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin; East Point, Georgia; Bedburg, Germany; and other projects in Ohio, North Carolina, and Wyoming.
San Antonio District 6 Councilmember Ric Galvan told the outlet that there are more than a dozen data centers in his district, with more proposed. He cited concerns about the impact on traffic and the environment, including tree removal, following a 2022 approval of a Microsoft plan to remove 2,642 trees from a 33-acre tract for a data center.
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Microsoft spokesperson Jennifer Lyons, however, said in an email to the outlet that the company is investing in more than 400 acres of woodland and pollinator prairie restoration in San Antonio and intends to leave the “land more productive than we received it.” Galvan said Microsoft may be “covering their bases,” which he said is fine if residents’ concerns are addressed. He proposed a moratorium on new data centers in August, backed by Public Citizen, but the council opted against a blanket pause and is weighing zoning rules instead, with a vote scheduled for Oct. 15.
Shelley also pointed to adjacent effects, specifically pollution from new gas plants built to supply energy for data centers. “I cannot really see any level of biomimicry investment that makes a gas plant a desirable neighbor,” he told the outlet. Chevron says its plant would provide “approximately 2.67 gigawatts” of power if the plan goes through, with first power anticipated in 2028.
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/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#main
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