The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has sharply increased demand for electricity. According to the US Department of Energy, in 2023 data centers consumed about 4.4% of the country's total electricity, and by 2028 that share could reach 12%. To meet such a load, gas power plants are being built, but they emit carbon dioxide (CO2). Capturing it with conventional methods is expensive and bulky.
Researchers from the University of Houston led by Professor Mim Rahimi (he now also collaborates with Harvard) have developed the SMEC technology - small modular electrochemical containers. The work was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Each module fits into a standard 40-foot (12-meter) shipping container, which eliminates the need to build huge absorption towers and lay complex infrastructure.
Inside the container are electrochemical cells that use electricity to separate CO2 from flue gases before it enters the atmosphere. Unlike traditional systems, this does not require large columns or special membranes. According to Rahimi, if a conventional installation is a 40-meter tower designed for a specific plant, then SMEC's capacity is regulated simply by turning containers on or off. This is convenient for data centers that receive energy from different sources.
In the laboratory, the system was tested on simulated exhaust gases from gas and coal power plants. Under optimal conditions, it captured about 90% of CO2 and ran 300 cycles over 50 hours without failures. The researchers then modeled operation at a 360-megawatt gas power plant linked to the Stargate data center project (being developed by OpenAI) in Abilene, Texas. The calculation showed that about 20 containers could capture 98% of the plant's CO2 emissions. Together with supporting infrastructure, they would occupy only a small part of the 875-acre (354-hectare) campus.
So far these are laboratory tests and a computer model, not a finished industrial product. The authors emphasize that the technology has been validated in the laboratory, but further testing is needed for real-world deployment. In the future, Rahimi hopes to teach the system to capture CO2 directly from the atmosphere, not only from power plant stacks. Then it could be placed anywhere.