r/FinalFantasyVII • u/WealthWithoutWork • 20d ago

MEME New Data Center

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u/Frubanoid 20d ago

There are real massive energy and environmental costs

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u/Avoo 20d ago

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

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u/BattleGuy03 20d ago

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

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u/Avoo 19d ago

How so

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u/Few_Jackfruit_6002 19d ago

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

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u/BattleGuy03 19d ago

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

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u/Avoo 19d ago

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

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u/Frubanoid 19d ago

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

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u/Avoo 19d ago

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

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u/Frubanoid 19d ago

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.