From Doo to Data: Microsoft to Build Plant Powered by Human Waste

Microsoft announced Monday it will build the first-ever zero carbon data center using biogas from an adjacent wastewater treatment facility.

Located in Cheyenne, Wyo., the 200-kilowatt data center will get its power from the Dry Creek Water Reclamation Facility. The company plans to use the $5.5-million project to research sustainable energy options for future data centers, Sean James, a Microsoft senior research program manager, said in a blog post.

"With the Cheyenne research and development project, we are moving closer to the goal of a highly-available, net-zero CO_2, scalable, and cost efficient data center," James wrote. "This Data Plant project will help provide a bold new paradigm for future data center infrastructures that will recycle waste to power delivery of cloud services."

James said a wastewater treatment plant is a desirable power source for data because of its "reliable flow."

"These plants cannot go offline any more than a community can stop flushing," he said.

To learn more about the project, visit the Microsoft Global Foundation Services blog.