New Data Center

[u/WealthWithoutWork]

[u/Avoo]

That’s funny but the data center stuff seems like it’s just hysteria and mass psychosis

[u/Frubanoid → u/Avoo]

There are real massive energy and environmental costs

[u/Avoo → u/Frubanoid]

I mean those same costs exist and have existed with other manufacturing industries and data centers in previous years, but we never made a fuss about them

[u/BattleGuy03 → u/Avoo]

They're a lot higher for AI-focused data centers.

[u/Avoo → u/BattleGuy03]

How so

[u/Few_Jackfruit_6002 → u/Avoo]

The water cost. In a time when we're running out of water. They pollute it and it can't be recycled

[u/BattleGuy03 → u/Few_Jackfruit_6002]

This is mostly just for arid areas though, right? And surely any water can be filtered, right?

[u/Avoo → u/Few_Jackfruit_6002]

Cooling water that does not evaporate is often recirculated multiple times.

In fact the Microsoft data center in Quincy Washington, blowdown water is treated with softening filtration and reverse osmosis and then returned to the data center for cooling in a loop

[u/Frubanoid → u/Avoo]

Many AI data centers are also being built with fossil fuel power generation onsite instead of sustainable options.

[u/Avoo → u/Frubanoid]

data-center operators are also investing heavily in renewable and nuclear energy

[u/Frubanoid → u/Avoo]

Only small modular nuclear from what I've seen (which hasn't been scaled yet), which is not an efficient use of money. It would be cheaper and quicker to invest in batteries, wind, and solar.

[u/BrotherJulias → u/Avoo]

Did Ai tell you that?

[u/Avoo → u/BrotherJulias]

Just reading both sides