Waste heat from data centers can boost air temperatures in downwind neighborhoods by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit, researchers at Arizona State University report in a new study conducted in the Phoenix metro area, the hottest in the U.S.
The majority of datacenters and datacenter power consumption are not for AI. Before AI no one cared about datacenters. Still no one cares about datacenters that already existed and make up the majority of datacenters. I don’t understand it. Is this just manufactured outrage?
Data centers went from the tens of megawatts range to the gigawatts range because they’re being stuffed with increasingly power hungry AI chips at great density, and they’re also building larger ones. Some of the planned data centers are going to crack 10 gigawatts each. The record electricity consumption rate for my entire country of ~1.3 million people is 1.6 gigawatts in the winter. That includes industry AND multiple non-AI data centers.
So now everyone else has to pay more for electricity in the affected communities, as the demand’s gone up. And water’s going to be scarcer. And they’re literally piping out hot steam at you in already hot areas, to the point that some neighborhoods might become unlivable due to the increased wet bulb temperature.
Luckily, yes, some of the bigger ones are planning on-site gas power plants (and a little bit of solar), but then you’re left asking yourself if more fossil fuel based generation is much better than just driving everyone’s fees up through the grid. It doesn’t drive our electricity costs up, but it’s still bad for the climate.
Kind of breaks the social contract to suddenly increase a community’s electricity consumption so much that everyone who lives in it is told to go find their own electricity, don’t you think?
The majority of datacenters and datacenter power consumption are not for AI. Before AI no one cared about datacenters. Still no one cares about datacenters that already existed and make up the majority of datacenters. I don’t understand it. Is this just manufactured outrage?
Data centers went from the tens of megawatts range to the gigawatts range because they’re being stuffed with increasingly power hungry AI chips at great density, and they’re also building larger ones. Some of the planned data centers are going to crack 10 gigawatts each. The record electricity consumption rate for my entire country of ~1.3 million people is 1.6 gigawatts in the winter. That includes industry AND multiple non-AI data centers.
So now everyone else has to pay more for electricity in the affected communities, as the demand’s gone up. And water’s going to be scarcer. And they’re literally piping out hot steam at you in already hot areas, to the point that some neighborhoods might become unlivable due to the increased wet bulb temperature.
Luckily, yes, some of the bigger ones are planning on-site gas power plants (and a little bit of solar), but then you’re left asking yourself if more fossil fuel based generation is much better than just driving everyone’s fees up through the grid. It doesn’t drive our electricity costs up, but it’s still bad for the climate.
C’mon bro put 2 and 2 together, you can do it
What do you want me to put together? Why don’t you just come out and say what you mean instead of beating around the bush?
People hate data centers because they are being forced into our communities without our consent. Consent. Consent.consent
Most datacenters are not in urban communities they are in industrial zones.
You also don’t need the consent of other people to build things on land you own. Get out of here with this shit.
Kind of breaks the social contract to suddenly increase a community’s electricity consumption so much that everyone who lives in it is told to go find their own electricity, don’t you think?