The World’s Biggest Consumers of Electricity Are Hidden in Plain Sight
Producers of industrial gases use as much power as the biggest oil and tech companies, with only a fraction of it coming from renewables.
The Linde logo on a hydrogen tube trailer at the Calvera Hydrogen plant in Zaragoza, Spain.
Photographer: Angel Garcia/BloombergThe rush to secure electricity has intensified as tech companies look to spend trillions of dollars building data centers. There’s an industry that consumes even more power than many tech giants, and it has largely escaped the same scrutiny: suppliers of industrial gases.
Everyday items like toothpaste and life-saving treatments like MRIs are among the countless parts of modern life that hinge on access to gases such as nitrogen, oxygen and helium. Producing and transporting these gases to industrial facilities and hospitals is a highly energy-intensive process.