Meta's 10 gas plants will emit 12.4M tons of CO2 yearly
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- Meta announced 7 new natural gas power plants in Louisiana on top of 3 already committed, bringing its total to 10 plants generating ~7.5 gigawatts — roughly South Dakota's entire electricity demand — to power its $27 billion Hyperion AI data center.
- TechCrunch calculated the 10 gas plants will emit 12.4 million metric tons of CO2 per year using Department of Energy data, a figure 50% larger than Meta's entire reported 2024 carbon footprint.
- Methane leaks from U.S. natural gas production and pipelines run at roughly 3% — far above the 0.2% threshold at which gas becomes worse for the climate than coal, and a factor Meta's emissions accounting does not address.
- Meta's latest sustainability report makes no mention of methane, natural gas, or the planned Louisiana gas plants, even though gas is poised to become one of the company's largest carbon contributors.
- Meta has been a leading purchaser of solar, batteries, and nuclear and previously locked in a 20-year nuclear power deal, making the gas-heavy pivot a notable departure from its clean energy pattern.
- To stay on track with its climate pledge, Meta will need to buy substantially more carbon removal credits and produce an honest accounting of supply-chain methane leaks, both currently absent from its disclosures.
Why it matters: Meta's gas-powered AI buildout adds 12.4 million tons of CO2 per year — 50% more than its entire 2024 footprint — while its sustainability report omits methane and natural gas entirely, forcing the company to buy far more carbon removal credits than planned. The move matters because even tech's biggest renewable and nuclear buyer is turning to fossil gas for AI-scale power, exposing how fast data center demand is outrunning the clean energy buildout.
