The rapid expansion of data centers across the United States is putting growing pressure on the nation's electricity supply. These facilities require enormous amounts of power not only to operate their computing equipment, but also to keep it cool. The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that data centers could account for as much as 9% of annual U.S. electricity generation by 2030, compared with 4% of total electricity demand in 2023.
Researchers are now exploring ways to reduce some of that strain. A team led by Gang Wu, the Elvera and William R. Stuckenberg Professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed an approach that could improve low-temperature fuel cells and potentially expand their use as an alternative source of electricity.
The research team also included scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Northeastern University and the University of Pittsburgh. Their findings were published Aug. 6, 2026, in Nature Nanotechnology.
"If a data center is able to supply its electricity itself by using a fuel cell, it would directly convert hydrogen and other fuels into the electricity, reducing the burden on the energy grid," Wu said.
