Bloomberg: Rocket tech is poised to generate clean power for data centers

A startup founded by former SpaceX employees has raised $55 million for technology that runs on natural gas and can provide always-available, carbon-free electricity. The goal: to eventually power artificial intelligence data centers.

Arbor Energy uses rocket-inspired technology that combusts fuel with a stream of oxygen and creates so-called supercritical carbon dioxide — that is, CO2 in a fluid state — it uses to spin a turbine. The CO2 is then captured and stored.

The Series A funding round led by Lowercarbon Capital and Voyager Ventures is intended to help Arbor build a one megawatt pilot unit and develop a 25-megawatt commercial system. Arbor’s commercial facility would be able to generate a fraction of the power demands of US data centers, which BloombergNEF projects will more than double by 2035 to 78 gigawatts.