Data Centers Will Be the Straw that Breaks the Camel's Back

 



The Data Center will be the straw that breaks the back of the effort to stop climate change. They will consume massive amounts of energy, resources and degrade local environments. It will start with their construction and escalate with its operations. Data centers may well be needed in the future but building them at this critical time is not possible, when the reduction in greenhouse gases is necessary for the survival of all life as we know it today.

What follows are the reasons it is not possible at this time.

 

Hundreds of data centers are under construction and hundreds more are being planned. Huge amounts of greenhouse gases will be produced in the making of the steel and concrete for the buildings. Significant amounts of materials and energy will be used to make the massive number of computers and thus will produce more greenhouse gases. During the construction, transportation of men and materials will burn lots of fuel and add to the carbon footprint of the project.

Large areas of land will be degraded. The smaller data centers take up 40 to 50 acres, while the hyperscale to mega scale use 200 to more than 1000 acres of land. Native lands that coexisted with the local environment are forever changed and no longer support the local environment. The area becomes a heat source for the surrounding environment, which adds to the heating of the planet.

Once operating two major concerns are water use and electricity used. The water is used to cool the computers, so they don't overheat.
Medium-sized facilities consume 500,000 gallons per day, the equivalent of what 1500 households use in one day. Hyperscale data centers can require up to 5 million gallons daily or what 15,000 households would use. 
Data centers also consume water indirectly through electricity generation. Substantial amounts of water are used for the plants cooling systems.
100-megawatt (MW) coal and nuclear power plants consume about 2 million gallons of water per day, the equivalent of what 6000 households use in one day. Combined cycle natural gas plants and oil-fired plants approximately 1 million gallons, the equivalent of 3000 households.
 The Data center is a double-edged sword when it comes to water loss. It drains water from the aquifer and prevents water from percolating back into the aquifer with it impervious surfaces further depleting the water supply. The combination of direct and indirect water loss has a significant effect on the community it is built in.

2030 is the deadline for holding the increase in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius.

Of critical importance is the amount of electricity data centers use. Forecasts indicate the U.S. must potentially add 100 GWh of new generation and capacity annually to keep up with the projected demand of data centers.   With three and a half years remaining to 2030 that amounts to 350 GWh of new electricity. The U.S. is on track to install roughly 336 GWh of new wind, solar, and energy storage capacity by 2030. The United States generates approximately 4430GWh of utility-scale electricity. Fossil fuel's share is~60%, at 2580 GWh. The growth in green energy will not even meet the increase in demand from the data centers, let alone reduce the amount of fossil fuel energy, 2580 GWh, being generated. This results in a zero reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.  Both the construction and operations will make it impossible to meet the goal of keeping the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius. Delaying the construction of data centers gives us a chance to reduce the amount of fossil fuel generated electricity and lessen the effect of climate change. We must recognize the difference between that which we want and that which we need. We may want some future benefit from AI but we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions now to have a future.


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