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Why the cloud still runs on coal and gas

Deutsche Welle · · 1105 words · By Martin Kuebler
Energy Infrastructure Strain Climate Responsibility vs. Economic Growth
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dw.com/en/why-the-cloud-still-runs-on-coal-and-gas/a-76873187?maca=e…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Selective Omission 70% confidence
Deliberately leaving out important context or facts that would change interpretation.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

16 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

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“Data centers need vast amounts of energy to fuel servers and process the information that keeps our websites, applications and generative AI models running.”
SINGLE SOURCE
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web search NEUTRAL — Artificial intelligence has developed rapidly in recent years, with tech companies investing billions of dollars in data centers to help train and run AI models. The expansion of data centers has rais…
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/10/24/what-we-k…
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web search NEUTRAL — What Are AI Data Centers? Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers are specialized facilities designed to handle complex computational workloads required for machine learning and deep learning models…
https://blog.ansi.org/ansi/ai-data-centers-carbon-water-ener…
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web search NEUTRAL — A 2021 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on a pilot study of energy use in data centers surveyed 50 facilities and received 9 responses. Private firms maintain data sets that can pr…
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48646
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“In the United States, which has more data centers than anywhere else in the world, that energy demand is straining transmission grids and driving up the cost of electricity.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and a federal c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, a federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major territories, and minor islands. Bot…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_territories…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Struggling grid operators are turning to polluting fossil fuels to quickly supply the power.”
SINGLE SOURCE
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web search NEUTRAL — Nov 26, 2025 · To lend you a hand, we’ve rounded up highly-anticipated books across an array of genres that are hitting shelves in 2026. Many are even available for request on NetGalley and to read in…
https://bookish.netgalley.com/must-reads/11/2025/2026-must-r…
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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 23, 2025 · What books are coming out in 2026? This compiled list shows all the books we're most looking forward to reading in 2026 from all genres. This list is organized by each month's new relea…
https://www.shelfreflection.com/blog/most-anticipated-books-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jan 27, 2026 · These are the books of 2026 that we can't wait to read.
https://www.today.com/popculture/books/best-books-2026-rcna2…
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“In some cases, they are considering nuclear, or even bringing back oil, gas and coal power plants that had been slated for closure.”
SINGLE SOURCE
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web search NEUTRAL — With the nationwide closure of coal and nuclear power plants, energy experts and advocates are warning Americans will face higher electric bills and possible summer blackouts. (AP Newsroom).
https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/electric-grid-operators-w…
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web search NEUTRAL — Or, grid operators might also set overly strict "location" requirements. Order 2222 allows an aggregated resource that is at least 100kW in size to participate in the regional market. If a 100kW resou…
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-order-2222-should-be-a…
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web search NEUTRAL — The Coal Power Plant is a Machine that can be set up to heat large amounts of Distilled Water to sustain machines such as Modular Turbines.
https://industrialist.fandom.com/wiki/Coal_Power_Plant
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“According to a recent Reuters analysis, the country's biggest power grid postponed or canceled the planned closure of 60% of its fossil fuel plants last year.”
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 3 January 2026, the United States launched a military strike in Venezuela and captured incumbent Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The US operation, codenamed Operatio…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_interventio…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Reuters ( ROY-tərz) is an international news agency wholly owned by Thomson Reuters, which is a multinational information conglomerate. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuters
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ROY-tərz) is a Canadian multinational content-driven technology conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, and maintains its headquarters in the city at …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson_Reuters
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“PJM Interconnection covers 13 eastern states, including Virigina, the "data center capital of the world."”
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Bath County Pumped Storage Station is a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant with a maximum generation capacity of 3,003 MW, an average of 2,772 MW, and a total storage capacity of 24,000 MWh.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Sta…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Guernsey Power Station is a privately owned gas-fired power plant located in Guernsey County, Ohio south of Byesville in the heart of the Utica and Marcellus shale region. It generates 1.875 GW of pow…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernsey_Power_Station
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — PJM Interconnection LLC (PJM) is a regional transmission organization (RTO) in the United States. It is part of the Eastern Interconnection grid operating an electric transmission system serving all o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PJM_Interconnection
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“Eleven of the plants due to close were so-called "peakers," which are brought online during periods of spiking electricity demand.”
SINGLE SOURCE
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web search NEUTRAL — Electricity production in France has been dominated by nuclear power since the early 1980s with a large portion of that power exported today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_France
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web search NEUTRAL — Electricity prices may also be influenced by world events, particularly if those events impact the price of fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, which are often burned by power plants to genera…
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/cost-of-e…
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web search NEUTRAL — Rising electricity demand from AI data centers is driving major investment in long‑duration energy storage (LDES)technologies capable of delivering renewable power for 8+ hours.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alexander-heiss_the-boom-in-a…
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“Virginia-based Dominion Energy, which had pledged to shift to 100% renewable sources by 2045, has planned significant investment in gas and nuclear power until 2039 to "reliably generat[e] power when customers need it the most."”
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Charleston Innovation Campus is a branch campus of Clemson University, located at the former Charleston Navy Yard in North Charleston, South Carolina. It was established in 2004, and houses the W…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_Innovation_Campus
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is an American energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Car…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Energy
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Dominion Energy Charity Classic is a professional golf tournament in Virginia on the PGA Tour Champions, played at Country Club of Virginia in Henrico, Virginia. The inaugural edition was in Novem…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Energy_Charity_Classi…
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“In Nevada, utility company NV Energy has said data centers could cause it to miss the state's clean energy targets of 50% renewable power generation by 2030.”
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — NV Energy is a public utility which generates, transmits and distributes electric service in northern and southern Nevada, including the Las Vegas Valley, and provides natural gas service in the Reno …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NV_Energy
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Reid Gardner Battery Energy Storage System is a 220 MW / 440 MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) located near Moapa, Nevada, United States. Upon its initial commercial operation o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_Gardner_Battery_Energy_St…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Solar power in Nevada is growing due to a renewable portfolio standard which requires 50% renewable energy by 2030. The state has abundant open land areas and some of the best solar potential in the c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Nevada
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“And in North Carolina, home to nearly 100 data centers, NextEra Energy announced in December that it no longer saw "a realistic path to achieving actual zero-carbon emissions by 2045."”
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“In the US, natural gas provides more than 40% of the electricity for data centers, according to the International Energy Agency.”
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“Coal-fired power plants provide 15% [of electricity for data centers in the US], according to the International Energy Agency.”
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“Worldwide, the IEA projects that these two dirty fuel sources will power over 40% of the additional electricity required by data centers until at least 2030.”
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“The IEA has said "renewables and natural gas are set to account for over 65% of all electricity produced for data centres by 2030" — also in parts of Southeast Asia, for example...”
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“A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 65% of Americans were against a facility near their home, with nearly two-thirds citing electricity costs.”
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“In Maine, legislators have backed a bill that would pause new data center construction until November 2027 to evaluate the risks to the electric grid and environment.”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.