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Meta geothermal deal highlights growing interest in renewable alternatives

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22 Jun, 2025

This post was originally published on Green Biz

Source: Green Biz

Meta is contracting with a little-known next-generation geothermal startup, XGS Energy, to counteract emissions from a data center campus in New Mexico that’s being expanded to accommodate artificial intelligence.

Under the deal announced June 12, Meta will support XGS’s development of a two-phased, 150-megawatt installation that will begin feeding electricity to the local grid by 2030. 

This is not a power purchase agreement, at least not yet. It’s part of a broad portfolio of 13 renewable electricity and energy storage projects that Meta is supporting through a special service contract with PNM, the largest electricity provider in New Mexico. The project developers seek to use a state geothermal tax credit approved in 2024. 

XGS, founded in 2008, has raised close to $60 million to develop a geothermal production method differentiated by use of almost no water and its applicability in a variety of geological conditions. Meta is its first publicly declared customer.

Enhanced geothermal technologies work by fracturing hot rock and circulating water to generate electricity. Advanced geothermal systems use a closed-loop design that doesn’t inject the fluid into the rock and are often sited at end-of-life oil and gas wells. XGS is considered a hybrid between these two approaches.

There’s only one geothermal installation in New Mexico, but state-sponsored research suggests there could be 160 gigawatts of geothermal capacity available for development. “New Mexico is not only the second largest oil and gas producer in the U.S., but also one of the nation’s leading sources of clean energy,” said New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham. Colorado, North Dakota and California also support state-level initiatives.

This is Meta’s second geothermal partnership. It announced a relationship with Sage Geosystems in August 2024 with the goal of bringing 150 megawatts of electricity online in an unspecified location east of the Rocky Mountains by 2027. 

Google and Microsoft support geothermal, too

Geothermal power accounts for less than 1 percent of the current U.S. electricity mix, but anticipated energy demand for data centers and bipartisan policy support for development is spurring corporate interest. 

Startups working on enhanced or advanced geothermal systems have raised more than $1.3 billion from a range of investors including oil majors such as Chevron and Baker Hughes, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie. 

Wood Mackenzie estimates the Great Basin region including Nevada, Utah and parts of California, Oregon and Wyoming could support at least 135 gigawatts of capacity, or roughly 10 percent of the U.S. power supply.

Fervo Energy, an enhanced geothermal company that has inked a high-profile deal with Google for a 118 megawatt project in Nevada, disclosed an additional $206 million in project financing June 11 that will help advance its Cape Station project in Utah, the first phase of which is slated to become operational in 2026. 

Microsoft’s biggest bet on geothermal for data centers, so far, is outside the U.S. in Kenya, where it’s investing $1 billion in an AI facility with G42, a development company from Dubai.  

Positive project pipeline

Data centers are a rapidly growing business in the U.S., and corporate power purchase agreements will be critical for securing more projects, according to Wood Mackenzie analysis. Geothermal is one of the rare renewables receiving bipartisan support: As of this writing, it appeared federal tax credits would be spared in the budget winding its way through the U.S. Senate. 

Even without those credits, the levelized cost of energy from next-generation geothermal projects such as Cape State is about $79 per megawatt-hour. 

“Tax credits should serve as a catalyst, not a crutch,” said Annick Adjei, senior research analyst with Wood Mackenzie. “They help build a competitive U.S. geothermal industry with global leadership potentially. Fortunately, [enhanced geothermal] projects are increasingly viable without them, and continued innovation is expected to drive costs down further.”

The post Meta geothermal deal highlights growing interest in renewable alternatives appeared first on Trellis.

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Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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