In part 1 of this series, we explored just what AI actually is, separating the hype and the doom and explaining in plain English.
Now it’s time to talk about the data centers that go with the AI boom. Data centers aren’t new—they’ve been around for decades. The current building frenzy is something else entirely, though. Here’s what’s what.
What’s a data center?
“Data center” is another umbrella term that can mean several different things. Basically, all this massive computational power needs physical computers to do all that math and store the information—a LOT of computers using a LOT of power. Companies are constructing massive complexes of buildings to house the computers, with the average size being 100,000 square feet, or about 2 football fields. “Hyperscale” data centers, aka, very large data centers, start at about 200,000 square feet, and can run up to 1,000,000 square feet or more.
The concerns about data centers are plentiful; again, since we’re attempting an introduction to the concepts involved, we’re not going to be able to comprehensively cover them all, but here are a few clarifying points to consider.
Power
Because all those computers need a lot of electricity, there’s tremendous strain on local power facilities to provide that electricity. The International Energy Agency says a typical hyperscale data center might use 100 megawatts (MW), as much electricity as 100,000 households. There are already over 1,000 of these data centers in operation, so that means: 1000 x 100000 households’ power = up to one hundred million households’ worth of electricity is currently being used, with Big Tech pursuing the construction of thousands more of these. This creates a supply and demand problem: if the power company can’t meet the demand, the supply becomes scarce, and the price goes up for all of us. Consumers often end up footing the bill. However, some industry experts argue that our overall nationwide increase in energy prices is the result of power grid upgrades we generally need, not just for data centers.
One solution would be to have data centers bring their own power by building power generating facilities, but those self-contained power sources are often based on polluting fossil fuels, which doesn’t do the environment and surrounding communities any favors.
Water
Why is water such a hot topic in the data center debate? All those computers constantly computing means there’s a lot of heat generated inside the machines, and they need to stay cool. Simple fans (like the ones you may hear come in your computer when it’s doing some intensive work like gaming or streaming video) aren’t enough; circulating water through the computers is the most efficient way currently to keep them cool enough to function. That requires a lot of water, up to 5 million gallons of water daily for each, for the largest data centers, equivalent to 16,000-plus average U.S. households, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates.
Additionally, the power plants providing the electricity also need to be cooled, and they also use fresh water to do so. Already, water-stressed states like Texas and Arizona are feeling the impact of data centers on their water availability for everyone else. There are experiments with what are called “closed loop” water systems, meaning instead of getting used once and discarded, the water involved in cooling a data center or power plant is recycled. Those are not yet widespread, and they also rely on lots of chemicals to keep the water doing its job, so there are environmental trade-offs there, too.
Pollution
Because of the increased power requirements, we end up with a cascading effect of pollution problems. Fossil fuels often power the grids to which data centers are connected, and an increase in the electrical output means an increase in carbon emissions. Additionally, data centers themselves may use older technologies as backups, like diesel-powered generators. Climate TRACE reports that emissions don’t yet show to be increasing in data-center heavy areas, but the boom has just begun. Also, since the Trump administration got rid of incentives to use clean energy, many tech companies have simply abandoned pursuing climate-friendly methods.
Some people tout nuclear energy as the answer here, but, surprise surprise, that’s also a tricky one. Mining uranium is dangerous (and those dangers hit indigenous communities disproportionately hard), nuclear waste is still a problem, the construction and more are carbon-intensive, and, oh right, a meltdown would kill a lot of people.
Could nuclear power play a role in getting to a post-carbon future? There are a lot of progressives who think so, because the technologies that are coming down the pike are much smaller, and are becoming safer and less destructive. I’m not totally convinced, personally, when there are so many Silicon Valley honchos telling us that being anti-nuke is, like, so over, that those with reservations about nuclear power basically hate the puppies and rainbows of the future.
Finally, there’s the ceaseless noise pollution that severely impacts the people whose communities have been invaded by data centers. The construction, cooling systems, generators and more all produce noise, and noise pollution has been linked to poor cognition, decreased learning and lower reading comprehension in kids.
Jobs & Economy
When data center developers come calling to a town or region, they often tout the economic benefits they can bring to that area. Not surprisingly, these developers often target economically depressed areas, particularly rural and/or marginalized communities which don’t have lobbyists in Washington looking out for them. The developers sell local officials on the idea that they’ll bring jobs to the region, and negotiate tax abatements and more incentives to bring them in. I’m reminded of the early Wal-Mart fights, when executives would promise a town the world, rake in the subsidies, and then watch as that town’s Main Street crumbled and WalMart employees applied for food stamps and Medicaid because these are not actually good, supportive jobs.
Many of the major building trade unions support the construction of data centers because the development does indeed provide jobs--albeit temporary ones to build and install the computer complexes. Then, poof!, those jobs are gone, leaving only a handful of long-term, large-scale employment opportunities with the kind of benefits that could make communities stronger.
That said, there is evidence that the tax revenues can benefit the overall infrastructure of an area--if a locality doesn’t give away the taxes in their negotiations to lure the data centers to town.
Bottom line, we at Hightower HQ are not fans of how data centers and their development are being pursued. Profit-hungry corporations creating FOMO-panic in areas that desperately need economic and environmental investment is not a great way to build systems that inspire confidence in the future. Here are a few posts from Hightower on data centers:
An issue in my neck of the woods is that the developers of proposed hyperscale data centers require local government entities to sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) so all negotiations are conducted in secret, with a final plan sprung on the citizens as a fait accompli.
The only comment that I have for almost anything happening today is "SHIT".