Posted on 10/18/2024 4:46:02 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
The power generation sector is looking at numerous ways to provide enough electricity to satisfy demand from data centers. Bloomberg Intelligence research shows data centers, buildings filled with servers and other computing equipment for data storage and networking that supports operations and artificial intelligence, could be responsible for as much as 17% of all U.S. electricity consumption by 2030. The U.S. Dept. of Energy has said one data center can require 50 times the electricity of a typical office building.
Several technology groups are looking at nuclear power, including the use of small modular reactors, to meet their electricity needs. Energy analysts have said natural gas, whether burned in large-scale facilities or peaker plants, also will be important
Power consumption from data centers is benefiting coal-fired power plants, some of which may be kept running longer than expected in order to meet the increased demand for electricity from companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and others. Some coal-fired plants already have gotten a reprieve in areas where more energy is needed as data centers come online, or are in the planning stages.
The topic reportedly was discussed when C-suite executives from Alphabet (Google), AWS, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, and OpenAI met with government officials in Washington, D.C., last month to discuss ways to support U.S. infrastructure for AI, including data centers. Part of the discussion was about repurposing old coal sites as data center campuses. The DOE has said it will share resources with data center developers about how to repurpose former coal mines, or coal-fired power plants, to be home to data centers. Energy DELTA Lab, a collaborative effort that includes Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power, already is working on the Data Center Ridge project at a former mining site in Wise County, Virginia.
(Excerpt) Read more at powermag.com ...
DC Byte, a UK-based research group that tracks data centers worldwide, has said the U.S. is the world leader in the buildout of data centers. The group said Virginia—home to about half of all U.S. data centers—is the largest data center market worldwide. Loudoun County in Virginia is known as “Data Center Alley.”
DC Byte in its 2024 Global Data Center Index wrote, “Virginia currently has over 6 GW in the development pipeline including projects under active construction as well as Committed and Early Stage campuses.” The group noted, “Cloud is the greatest driver of growth in Virginia. AWS [Amazon Web Services] operates over 40 facilities in the state and Microsoft operates a massive campus in Boydton as well as a smaller facility in Loudoun County. Both companies have more self-build campuses in the pipeline and are also major colocation tenants across the market.”
DC Byte added, “In 2022, Loudoun County’s primary power supplier Dominion Energy announced that it would not be able to meet power demand in the market. Delays in power delivery are expected until 2025 or 2026 while new power infrastructure is built. In the meantime, Dominion Energy would be providing power incrementally.” Dominion officials have said they project that power demand in the utility’s territory will increase by 85% over the next 15 years.
Each of my girls has an industrial-strength hair dryer. They use as much electricity as a small town. Each.
Three mile island is said to be coming back on line to support a Microsoft center
From the article: 17% of all U.S. electricity consumption by 2030
My take:
First, the reality: Do AI centers consume power? Yes. A lot, say more than a normal office building? Yes. More than the car plants in Alabama? Of course not. More than Manhattan Island? Of course not. More than the sudden increase in power consumption if the Dim states are successful in forcing residents to replace gas heat with electric heat? Of course not. More than if the Dims are successful in forcing even 5% of drivers to switch to EV's? Of course not.
Now, my summary: I believe the left is slowly admitting that we still need coal plants and other hydrocarbons but don't want to admit it too loudly. So AI centers are the new scapegoat for keeping some hydrocarbons. And the left loves AI because the left loves the elites spying on people. So they're using something they love (AI) as the excuse to keep something they need but claim to hate (hydrocarbons). Plus, young Dim voters think AI is the bomb. So they're directly saying we gotta keep hydrocarbons if we're going to keep something they love, as a way to avoid having to admit they are wrong about their warmageddon cult.
The climate hysteria is delusional. What good if we refrain from building coal plants if India and China do not? We are experiencing unforced de-industrialization due to a hoax.
Each of my girls has an industrial-strength hair dryer. They use as much electricity as a small town. Each.
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That is funny! 😉😊
If man made global warming was real, they would ban AI server farms because they pollute too much and waste
energy.
bttt
Apparently, the temperature of the air and ground, change with each day. “Progressives” feel, that is something up with which they should not put!
I’m no envirowank, but I believe burning woody biomass (pellets) would be a better way to go. It’s cleaner than coal,cheaper than NG and is renewable. Japan and Europe are using it already.
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What happened to “We are all going to die soon because of power plant pollution”??? Move on...nothing to see here. We are continually taken for suckers.
I don’t believe that cutting down forests and burning them is better for the planet.
You assume that forests are better than no forests.
In Brazil, vast areas of the tropical rain forest have been cleared revealing thousands of square miles of earthen structures created by humans thousands of years ago. The rain forest is in effect big weeds on human improved lands
NOT ONE of these GREENIACS ever mentions grid capacity. Sorry to say, it ain’t there and won’t be for decades. I’m currently watching an Amazon Data Center being built.
4 Massive buildings each with 6 backup nat gas generators. Not to mention that the substation serving this ELECTRICITY PIG is just under 10 Acres.
I think we already know that the existing supply of electricity & the existing structure to get it to where it is needed is already a problem when an area gets hit with extreme weather or other conditions. By now, those in that industry surely know that “green power” may help, but cannot be the only source. Going to EVs will only aggravate the situation. The “green power” won’t replace the need for the extra infrastructure needed to distribute another power source either. Now along comes AI & they say this will need a lot more power. If this “need” is filled then maybe the extra power for AI can be diverted to fill real needs when the situation requires. You have to consider which is more important .....AI, more EVs, or power to sustain human lives. Should be an easy answer that somebody will undoubtedly make more complicated.
The last figure that I saw from 2023 is that 26% of all electricity used in the Commonwealth of Virginia is to power data centers. Virginia is the data center capital of the world.
The new data centers use GPU chips in addition to CPU and others which require a lot more power. We’re also currently thinking that the new data centers have to be scaled up to get to AGI, full unassisted driving, etc.
Wow really? Nobody already knew that.
I think there was a thread but one unit is being re opened
Exactly right. There’s a pecking order to everything in liberal land as evidenced by AI now being put ahead of climate change. And there’s always a reason to their pecking orders.
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