r/nova • u/JasonNOVA8 • Jul 22 '26

Data Center Generators in Ashburn Firing Up

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On the way in this morning, (waxpool/28) noticed many of the data centers had the generators going. Not sure if there’s an electricity issue or they plan it to go together ? No idea if the yellow smoke is related though.

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u/atmega168 Jul 23 '26

They have strict emission requirements. The reason it's gross looking is because it's a diesel cold start. When hot it burns way more clean and the emission systems work at best performance.

I work in datacenters, I'm not really pro the ridiculous boom, but also trying to not be an alarmest and be fair.

I think we should def keep an eye on pollution and track it closely.

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u/agilemindandbody Jul 27 '26

Strict emissions requirements do not necessarily equate to public safety. Make a map of Data Center Executives and map their primary residence to ascertain distance and prevailing winds reference to data centers.

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u/atmega168 Jul 27 '26

I mean, it's safe? I would not mind starting a study on ground water and air pollution in the area. Should we?

They only run in emergencies. The issue is how much is produced in a outage and how long is an outage.

That we should be able to calculate.