NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Demand for electricity is rising so quickly in the United States that even Exxon Mobil, the country's largest oil and gas company, is planning to get into the power business, reported The New York Times on Wednesday.

"Exxon is designing a massive natural-gas fueled plant meant to directly supply electricity to data centers," said the report. "The company says the plant will be fitted with technology that can capture more than 90 percent of the facility's carbon dioxide emissions, the leading cause of climate change."

The project, which is in the early stages of development, would be the first time that Exxon built a power plant that did not supply electricity to its own operations.

In addition, only a very small number of power plants have systems to capture the carbon dioxide released by the burning of fuel before it reaches the atmosphere. Such systems have been slow to take off because they are incredibly expensive, even with federal subsidies, according to the report.

Exxon said it had secured land and was talking with potential customers. The company also said it could have the power plant running within the next five years, faster than new nuclear reactors could probably be built. Enditem

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