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How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use?

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Re: How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use?

#71

Post by shipman05 »

barbazoo wrote: post #48
shipman05 wrote: post #10

I'm dismayed by the current political discourse on this topic. Seems like the two camps are 1) let mega corps build data centers with impunity or 2) use NIMBY tactics to oppose them in all cases. I want to see a pro-growth approach that makes the mega corps assume the costs of their negative externalities. I want to see an increased build out of renewable and nuclear energy sources. I want to see environmental protec…

> the two camps are Or are those just the two ends of the spectrum? I don't know anyone on either extreme of the spectrum.

The "build with impunity" doesn't self-identify as such, and they would probably describe their position with more nuance. Something like "ensuring continued American economic growth and tech leadership while taking 'reasonable' precautions to reduce environmental harm"

If you haven't met any "oppose data centers in all cases" people, I would politely and earnestly recommend expanding your circle. AI and data center construction is extremely unpopular across political lines right now. Just about every politically engaged person I know who isn't in tech is strongly opposed to both (opinions often hypocritically expressed on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, etc).

Re: How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use?

#74

Post by bakies »

penr0se wrote: post #65
bakies wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Instagram reels. Mine is so full of anti-green-energy propaganda I uninstalled the app.

Instagram's algorithm is based on what you interact the most with (even stopping to watch the reel, to read comments or to write one counts as interacting). You can start marking all that content as "Not interesting" and in the worst case just blocking those profiles to fix your feed and algorithm (or even go to your settings and tweak your interests directly). But uninstalling the app is never a bad choice regardles…

Yeah I started blocking and gave up

Re: How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use?

#75

Post by no-name-here »

penr0se wrote: post #65
bakies wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Instagram reels. Mine is so full of anti-green-energy propaganda I uninstalled the app.

Instagram's algorithm is based on what you interact the most with (even stopping to watch the reel, to read comments or to write one counts as interacting). You can start marking all that content as "Not interesting" and in the worst case just blocking those profiles to fix your feed and algorithm (or even go to your settings and tweak your interests directly). But uninstalling the app is never a bad choice regardles…

One more option - you can also reset your algorithm in the IG settings.

Re: How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use?

#76

Post by yellowapple »

axus wrote: post #9
Aurornis wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's surprising because that's all anyone hears about right now. Many are surprised to learn that data centers use much less water than golf courses or pools. We hear about it so much in the news it sounds like it's the overwhelming largest consumption problem around.

If they use so little water and power, why aren't they being built in the empty office buildings? Seems like commercial real estate was made for ... commercial activity.

A lot of datacenters are built in / under / adjacent to office buildings.

Re: How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use?

#77

Post by yellowapple »

paulhebert wrote: post #51
sroussey wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Water usage for a data center is nowhere near any agricultural use (which is subsidized in California so they aren’t incentivized to change much). Data centers don’t need water at all. It’s just the municipality offering cheaper way to cool by offering water cheaper than power for cooling.

Yes but people need food in order to live (I think golf courses - and some pools - are quite wasteful and would support tax incentives around them.)

You don't specifically need beef or almonds in order to live. Even small reductions in the consumption of either would entirely offset datacenter water use.

Re: How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use?

#78

Post by yellowapple »

RetroTechie wrote: post #63
ggreer wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Increasing global electricity production by 1.5% (or 500 terawatt-hours) would also be a solution. Production from solar power increased by 600TWh from 2024-2025 and its rate of adoption is increasing as costs go down, so this doesn't seem like a problem worth worrying about.

Going by those figures, would mean that AI datacenters built so far, consume enough energy to undo almost a year of solar power buildout. AND growing like crazy. That's running costs. Not energy going into a building's construction or fabrication of the gear going in there. Does seem like a problem worth worrying about.

The obvious solution here is for datacenter buildouts to include the power generation necessary for them to operate. Here in Nevada that's exactly what quite a few of the larger datacenter companies (Switch, Google, Apple, etc.) have been doing, whether by outright building solar farms themselves or by signing PPAs with geothermal companies like Ormat. That's indeed how these companies are able to advertise their datacenters as powered by “100% renewables” despite NV Energy's grid power mix including non-renewables (namely natural gas).
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