Irish carbon capture company NEG8 Carbon has been selected to join the Net Zero Innovation Hub for Data Centres. The programme gives its direct air capture technology a route to hyperscale operators facing mounting pressure over waste heat, water use and emissions.

NEG8 Carbon is headquartered in Waterford and was founded in 2014 as a spin-out from Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, with a team of around 12. The company runs Ireland's first operational direct air capture system and is now working on a full-scale module designed to capture 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year at its Waterford base. The hub is Denmark-based and is backed by Google, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, APL, Danfoss, Data4 and Vertiv.

The structural driver is the waste heat that data centres produce, since most of the power they consume is emitted as heat. NEG8 Carbon's system reuses that low-temperature heat to run the capture process, offering a heat reuse route for sites where connection to a district heating network is impractical.

Ray Naughton, founder and managing director, said every tonne of carbon dioxide captured generates two tonnes of pure water, and that the system also provides data centre cooling as a by-product. Captured carbon dioxide can be stored permanently for carbon credits or sold as a feedstock for eFuels and other products.

Naughton said "the programme gives the company a pathway to engage with hyperscale data centre designers and operators to pilot and deploy the NEG8 Carbon technology at their sites." He pointed to around €22 billion in direct and indirect data centre investment in Ireland since 2010 and said the technology can help protect Ireland's position as a source of sustainable data centre locations.

Alberto Ravagni, chief executive of the hub, said it brings together innovators, hyperscalers, operators, integrators and investors to "de-risk, accelerate, and guide startups and scale-ups every step of the way." The start-up track sits alongside the hub's other work identifying and testing technologies for the industry.

For the sector, NEG8 Carbon's selection shows data centre operators looking beyond district heating for waste heat, with carbon capture offering a route that also addresses water use and cooling.

Source: irishtechnews.ie / solarimpulse.com / irishexaminer.com