Lenoir

Google · Lenoir, North Carolina

Water — consumed, not returned

Taken from the basin625M gal/yr
Evaporated on site180M gal
Making the power445M gal
Basin stressLow-Medium
Where the water comes from
Municipal potable supply
Cooling
Evaporative towers
Basis
Fitted to a published figure of 180 million gallons a year

Air — what the stacks emit

Nitrogen oxides133t/yr
Sulphur dioxide225t/yr
Fine particulates21.4t PM2.5
Health damages$22.2M/yr
Where it burns
Southern Co. — Georgia / Alabama
Generation mix
Gas 48 · Nuclear 28 · Coal 15
CO₂e
337 kt/yr — climate, not air quality

Who wanted it

Who asked for it
Google — self-build
Who approved it
Caldwell County and City of Lenoir incentives on former furniture-factory land; Duke Energy supply
What it serves
Google Search, Cloud and storage
IT capacity
150 MW running of 300 MW announced

One of the first big US campuses sited explicitly on a collapsed manufacturing base — the furniture industry's exit left the power, water and workforce that Google bought into in 2007.

Where it is

35.9140°, -81.5390°

Water and air figures are modelled from disclosed capacity, not measured — site-level error is roughly ±40%. Diesel backup generators are not counted, so on-site figures are floors. Full method.