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@lemmy.world @lemmy.ml what are the likely impacts of datacenters on water and on energy supply ? Can someone please enlighten me on this ? (hear-me.social)
submitted 13 hours ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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@asklemmy@lemmy.world @asklemmy@lemmy.ml what are the likely impacts of datacenters on water and on energy supply ? Can someone please enlighten me on this ?

#datacenter #water #energy #environment

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[–] 14 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

Water usage is a drop in the bucket globally, but can have a significant impact locally. Energy supply isn't threatened, but the distribution system is overtaxed and big companies are often given tax breaks that leave residents holding the bag for the costs of expanding energy supply and distribution.

So by and large data centers aren't any worse than a super Walmart (which isn't great), but the fact is no one would want one in their town, while a Walmart is actually useful locally — though it's a monkey's paw.

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  • [–] 5 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

    This is spot on. The big question is how to pay for the additional generation and distribution capacity. Typically this demand grows slowly and is amortized over decades. Data center demand is coming very rapidly all at once and there is no guarantee these companies will even exist 5-10 years from now. All that said, if tech companies pay for improvements to generation and distribution that would be something everyone would benefit from.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 5 hours ago (1 child)

    @xylogx @MagicShel why do you think that these companies won't exist after 10 years ??

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  • [–] 1 point 13 minutes ago*

    I am not the previous commenters, but seeing as there hasn't been a response yet, may as well offer my 2¢:

    1. Most of the data centers are being spun up to support AI development. AI companies have yet to find a profitable business model, and that situation is not likely to change anytime soon. If they don't become profitable, companies will start closing and will no longer need their data centers.

    2. Costs of everything are balooning. The price of essential hardware has spiked dramatically due to demand, so the data centers are being built at inflated cost and will need to turn over even more profit to break even, which will be difficult. Data centers also need a lot of power to operate, most of which is still based on fossil fuels, and that is also getting very expensive thanks to the US's war with Iran.

    Basically you're looking at high initial investment and operational costs, while profitability is not likely to occur anytime soon (if at all).

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