Speaking of DCs, is there evidence that they are sucking up water? What about deteriorating air quality around the buildings? Could they be causing major environmental issues? It seems they mostly have closed loop systems a la CPU coolers and they consume a lot of electricity that's already been earmarked for them. What about air quality and air humidity?
Most data centers are closed-loop, like your air conditioner. Does your air conditioner use water?
Presumably there are some data centers that use water cooling. I think google and amazon's big ones do. But even then, they're not "polluting", they're using them as heat sinks.
There was a lame rolling stone article that claimed amazon was "polluting" in Eastern Oregon, but what Amazon was doing was taking brined water from an aquifer and putting more concentrated brined water back into the water table. Air conditioning doesn't really add brine, so even the premise is ridiculous. I know that article has been referenced a lot by the "Data Centers Pollute The Water" folks.
Yes, it does. As far as water is concerned, air conditioners are open loop. Air conditioners make water from condensation forming on the inside (cool) coils. Modern window air conditioners then splash that water on the outside hot coils, to benefit from evaporative cooling. I haven't looked into the details about data center water usage, but I would guess the cited usage is from evaporative cooling.
laylower · · focus · HN ↗
mannyv · · focus · HN ↗
Presumably there are some data centers that use water cooling. I think google and amazon's big ones do. But even then, they're not "polluting", they're using them as heat sinks.
There was a lame rolling stone article that claimed amazon was "polluting" in Eastern Oregon, but what Amazon was doing was taking brined water from an aquifer and putting more concentrated brined water back into the water table. Air conditioning doesn't really add brine, so even the premise is ridiculous. I know that article has been referenced a lot by the "Data Centers Pollute The Water" folks.
mindslight · · focus · HN ↗
Yes, it does. As far as water is concerned, air conditioners are open loop. Air conditioners make water from condensation forming on the inside (cool) coils. Modern window air conditioners then splash that water on the outside hot coils, to benefit from evaporative cooling. I haven't looked into the details about data center water usage, but I would guess the cited usage is from evaporative cooling.