Microsoft Successfully Tested Hydrogen Fuel Cells To Power Its Data Center For 48 Hours

04/08/2020

Data centers are regarded as the factories of the digital age.

Located at the center of people's digital activities; the heart of what powers the modern days of technology, data centers are scattered all over the world, to run various digital services billions of people use everyday.

With them around, people around the world are replacing pens and papers with bytes.

But due to their hunger for resources, the carbon emission data centers produce is similar to the airline industry. What this means, data centers are dirty, and can threat to the planet in a long term.

This is why many giant tech companies are locating (and relocating) their data centers to elsewhere, where they can utilize lesser resources to power and to cool their servers.

And here, Microsoft announced in a news post that it has successfully developed and tested hydrogen fuel cells for a backup power to its Azure data center for 48 consecutive hours.

Hydrogen data center trailers
Hydrogen data center trailers. (Credit: Microsoft)

The idea began back in 2018, when researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, powered a rack of computers with a proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell.

“We got intrigued because we knew that they were using an automotive fuel cell,” said Microsoft Principle Infrastructure Engineer Mark Monroe. “An automotive fuel cell has the reaction time like a diesel generator does. It can turn on quickly. It can be ready for a full load within seconds. You can floor it, let it off, let it idle.”

PEM fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen in a process that produces water vapor and electricity.

After the demonstration, Microsoft started thinking about using fuel cells for backup power at data centers.

The company then developed a 250-kilowatt fuel cell system, that is said to have enough to power a run a full row of data center servers.

Microsoft said that the price for hydrogen fuel cells has decreased to the point where they are now affordable for mass deployment as an alternative to diesel-powered backup generators.

"They are expensive. And they sit around and don't do anything for more than 99% of their life." said Monroe in a July 27 press release. "And the idea of running them on green hydrogen fits right in with our overall carbon commitments."

What’s more, the Azure data center that is equipped with the fuel cells, can also benefit from the hydrogen storage tank, because the electrolyzer that converts water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen could also be integrated with the electric power grid to provide load balancing services.

Another advantage of using fuel cells is that, the process for refueling the fuel cells is similar to diesel fuel with long-haul vehicles that pull up to data centers to refill their tanks.

According to Microsoft Chief Environmental Officer Lucas Joppa. who has been appointed as Microsoft's representative on the Hydrogen Council:

"All of that infrastructure represents an opportunity for Microsoft to play a role in what will surely be a more dynamic kind of overall energy optimization framework that the world will be deploying over the coming years."

Scientists have proven that hydrogen fuel cells can be used to generate greenhouse gas-free energy from the most abundant element in the universe, Joppa noted.

“We know how to do it,” he said. “The council exists because we don’t necessarily know how to scale the generation of hydrogen, transportation of hydrogen, supply of hydrogen and then consumption of it in the various ways that we would like to. There’s still tons of work that needs to be done.”

The feat is the Microsoft's milestone in its commitment to be carbon negative by 2030.

And to help achieve that goal and accelerate the global transition away from fossil fuels, Microsoft is also aiming to eliminate its dependency on diesel fuel by 2030.

With the initiative, Jappa added that Microsoft wants to lead the energy industry and transport companies in seeking to jumpstart the hydrogen economy.

After finding success in testing the hydrogen fuel cells, Microsoft said that its next steps include acquiring and testing an even larger hydrogen fuel cell system that is 3-megawatts in power.

This is roughly equivalent to a diesel-powered backup generator used by Microsoft to power its Azure data center.