The first phase of Apple's fuel cell project at the Maiden, NC data center began testing in October of 2012, and the company is already looking at doubling the capacity of the plant . The plant is fueled by filtered landfill gas (AKA "directed biogas"), a fuel that is considered a renewable energy resource by North Carolina's green energy regulations. 

We all know about Apple's mega data center in Maiden, North Carolina. The center, with its solar farm and fuel cells, has been a popular topic of discussion here on TUAW since the groundbreaking years ago. Now the Hickory Daily Record is reporting that Apple's building a smaller "tactical" data center on the Maiden site. The new center is tiny -- just 21,030 square feet -- compared to the monstrous 500,000 square foot facility next door. The 11-room facility is apparently not designed for permanent occupancy, as it has only one unisex bathroom.

Looking for an exciting geek adventure this summer? You may want to follow in the footsteps of GigaOM's Katie Fehrenbacher, who recently took a one-day road trip to visit the sites of some of the world's largest data centers. These facilities, all of which are located in a small area of North Carolina, include Apple's new Maiden data center as well as facilities belonging to Google and Facebook.