In the United States, old aircraft engines are recovered to supply data centers with electricity

Old airplane jet engines are recycled in the United States to produce electricity in data centers, reveals a New York Times investigation published Tuesday, November 3. The reuse of aircraft engines to create energy is not new; piston engines have already been reused as irrigation pumps. But the use of converted jet engines as the main source of energy for such gigantic installations is unprecedented.

Elon Musk's American company xAI, which specializes in the development of artificial intelligence, has installed eight turbines converted into electricity generators in one of its huge data centers located in Mississippi. This development is not without having serious environmental consequences. In fact, the permits issued by the Trump administration authorize these generators to emit twice as much carbon monoxide as standard turbines and also set a legal ceiling for emissions of pollutants designated as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) revised upwards by +25%.

Increasing demand

ProEnergy, xAI's jet generator manufacturer, was one of the first to embark on the project by reusing General Electric turbines, commonly used in Boeing aircraft. According to Landon Tessmer, a ProEnergy executive, each recycled turbine can produce 50 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 15,000 homes each. He also said at a conference in Denver in September that data center demand for aircraft engines now far exceeds that of traditional utilities, once the first to market.

Pinal Airpark is one of the largest commercial aircraft dismantling sites in the world, with more than 300 aircraft in storage. When out-of-service planes are transported there, the engines are the first parts to be dismantled. Previously they were mainly collected by players in the aeronautics sector, but in 2025 the Pinal Airpark also saw a sharp increase in requests for aircraft engines from developers in the energy sector. Engineers then modify the turbines to run on natural gas or diesel instead of the more expensive kerosene. They are also adding electrical generators, a cooling system to compensate for higher ground temperatures, anti-pollutant devices and fairings to reduce engine noise.

Not compliant with emissions standards

One of the main obstacles to the creation of data centers is in fact the supply of these centers with electricity, while the development of artificial intelligence requires an ever-increasing energy requirement. However, requests for connection to the local electricity network take years and this sometimes proves insufficient. While installing turbines up to standard is very expensive, reusing old aircraft turbines appears to be a much quicker and more economical solution.

Lawyer Patrick Anderson, of the Southern Environmental Law Center, denounces the reuse of aircraft engines that does not comply with pollutant emissions rules. His group contests the authorization granted by Mississippi to xAI's turbines, notably accusing the American company of underestimating its pollutant emissions. The group also filed a complaint against xAI for operating another set of gasoline generators without a permit and for exposing a predominantly black population to air pollutants. Its polluting emissions also represent a serious risk for the more than 100,000 people who live within an eight-kilometer radius of the plant.