Setting the Record Straight on Fuel Cells and Toxic Chemicals

By Josh Pitcock, senior vice president, Oracle—Jun 16, 2026

Project Jupiter’s power plan has changed significantly over the past few months. Oracle will now use Bloom Energy fuel cells to power the AI data center campus, rather than the gas turbines and diesel generators initially proposed. That change is expected to lower local emissions compared with conventional combustion-based generation, significantly reduce ongoing water use, and ensure Oracle pays for the project’s energy costs.

As with any major infrastructure project, people have questions about what this change means in practice. One question in particular deserves a direct answer: do fuel cells create toxic chemicals?

The answer is no. Fuel cells do not generate, store, or contain toxic chemicals as part of their operation.

To understand where some of the confusion comes from, it is important to understand how pipeline natural gas is prepared before it enters a fuel cell system.

All pipeline natural gas in the United States contains sulfur-based odorants that are added for safety purposes so people can detect a gas leak. Before that gas can be used in the fuel cell system, the odorant must be removed to protect the equipment. Project Jupiter will use filtration equipment to remove that odorant before the natural gas reaches the fuel cells.

The fuel cells are not creating that odorant, and they are not creating toxic chemicals. The filtration equipment is simply removing something that is already present in pipeline natural gas before the fuel enters the system.

As part of routine maintenance, the filtration material used in the desulfurization units will be replaced approximately every two years. Once removed, the used filtration material will be managed through established safety and environmental procedures, including proper documentation, transportation, and disposal in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

This is the distinction critics omit: Project Jupiter will use filtered pipeline natural gas and manage the filtration material responsibly. The fuel cells do not produce toxic chemicals.

We expect people to have questions about a project of this size, and we welcome the opportunity to address them directly. Project Jupiter should be examined closely and judged based on the choices being made, the commitments being kept, and the facts of how the technology works. That is what New Mexico deserves: economic development that is honest about impacts, serious about community concerns, and accountable for how projects are built and operated.

Learn more at ProjectJupiterTogether.com.