Data centers fuel AI and crypto but could threaten climate, experts say

ABC News | Disney ^ | April 20, 2024 | ByMax Zahn

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and remote work – all of these buzzy trends depend on processing power delivered by a sprawling worldwide network of data centers.

As demand surges for the power-intensive complexes, which typically span 100,000 square feet, the increased energy usage could jeopardize the fight to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change, experts told ABC News.

"The growth trend is super-fast," Fengqi You, an energy engineering professor at Cornell University, told ABC News. "This is something I'm concerned about."

In 2022, roughly 2,700 data centers in the U.S. accounted for over 4% of the nation's electricity use, according to an International Energy Agency report released in January. By 2026, that share of electricity use is expected to reach 6%.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Fengqi You, an energy engineering professor at Cornell University said 'This is something I'm concerned about.'"

If poor Prof You is so concerned, then maybe he should be concerned about the 100 coal burning power plants that the Chinese are building every single year.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Fengqi You completed his undergraduate studies at Tsinghua University, and received his Ph.D. in 2009 from Carnegie Mellon University. After working at Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University, he moved to Cornell University, where he holds positions in:

1. Systems Engineering
2. Computer Science
3. Electrical and Computer Engineering
4. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
5. Applied Mathematics
6. Operations Research and Information Engineering
7. Applied Information Systems
8. Civil and Environmental Engineering
9. Mechanical Engineering.

He holds positions in NINE diverse, disparate, and unrelated fields? Either he's the smartest human to have ever trod the earth, standards have fallen to high school levels, or that is pure Bull Squeeze.

[Fido969]

Experts are concerned.

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

Oh my! Oh my! The CO2 percentage has reached 0.0421% If we don’t do something it could get as high as 0.0422 !!! And Methane is at 0.000172% W-W-We have to sue the meat companies like Letitia James is doing because that methane can reach as high as 0.000173% !!!

[dljordan]

‘experts say’

[dfwgator]

Anything they disagree with threatens the “climate”.

[Openurmind]

Yep, sure enough. Tech is anti-environmental. But they want their cake and eat it too. Doesn’t work that way. For every action there is an opposite reaction.

[Openurmind]

‘experts say’

It’s true. Simple common sense. It requires electricity. A LOT of electricity. And much of it we do not even need for any reason at all. They are just a new shiny trending products for temporary profits.

[catnipman]

so-called crypto “mining” is the most colossal waste of precious energy ever allowed to exist ...

[Openurmind]

“so-called crypto “mining” is the most colossal waste of precious energy ever allowed to exist ...”

So much so that there is even a whole industry of illegally cryptojacking other’s resources.

[Vermont Lt]

A majority of crypto is mined using renewable energy—mostly hydro. Most crypto mining using surplus energy during off hours.

The climate BS is not based in facts.

[grey_whiskers]

DEI (”Didn’t Earn It.”)

[brookwood]

If we electrify all cars the demand for electricity will increase by 20-50 percent. That is 10 to 25 times the predicted increase in electrical consumption from new data centers.

https://www.inverse.com/article/51486-electric-cars-demand-better-infrastructure