Data Centers and Clean Power

Computing demand is growing fast and runs continuously; the burner housing MetroVolt is studied as a co-located firm clean source.

A continuous, growing load

Data centers run around the clock and their electricity demand is rising quickly. Powering them with fossil generation ties a growing digital economy to a growing emissions source. Powering them with variable renewables alone is hard because the load never pauses. This is a textbook case for firm clean power sited near demand.

MetroVolt: the burner for compute

MetroVolt is one of the two housings for the burner (Aegis / MetroVolt), the D-3He tandem-mirror generator. Its intended role is a compact, co-located firm source for data-center-scale continuous load. Co-location reduces transmission dependence, and the burner's direct energy conversion and low neutron fraction (5.44%) shape its environmental profile favorably relative to a purely thermal machine.

We are careful with claims: MetroVolt is a design and simulation study. It has not been built, and we assert no operating performance. The environmental argument is conditional — if the burner closes, it could supply continuous compute load without combustion. The helium-3 dependence remains a real gate; see helium-3 and the planet.

There is a further reason siting matters for compute. Moving large amounts of power over long distances loses energy and exposes the load to grid disturbances. A firm source next to the racks it feeds shortens that path. It also means the environmental profile of the computing can be tied to a single, auditable generation source rather than an averaged grid mix.

The defense counterpart is Aegis.