‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and electricity usage

397 points · 517 comments · sensanaty

  1. yeag123 · · focus · HN ↗
    As other commenters have pointed out, 13.3 million gallons = ~40.8 acre-feet and this being Nebraska, the obvious comparison is agriculture (Corn and Soybeans being the main crop).

    The average Nebraska farm is 989 acers[1] as of 2022 and uses roughly ~1,200 acre-feet of water (or roughly 390 million gallons) per year[2]. So a single average Nebraska farm uses roughly 30 times the water the Lincoln data center uses per year. There are 44,479 farms/ranches covering 44 million acres, which accounts for over 90% of the state's total land area.

    Until I looked this up, I didn't appreciate the scale of water usage in farming (even in a state like Nebraska that gets a large amount of rainfall compared to Central or Southern California). I hope that the current data center environmental focus continues to shed light on our industrial water and electrical usage.

    [1]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;farmflavor.com&#x2F;nebraska&#x2F;nebraska-crops-livestock&#x2F;top-nebraska-agriculture-facts&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;farmflavor.com&#x2F;nebraska&#x2F;nebraska-crops-livestock&#x2F;top-... [2]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;cropwatch.unl.edu&#x2F;2024&#x2F;2023-irrigation-and-water-management-data-now-available&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;cropwatch.unl.edu&#x2F;2024&#x2F;2023-irrigation-and-water-man...

    1. SupLockDef · · focus · HN ↗
      Because it&#x27;s well known that the data centers are essential for the survival of the species.

      Now that we know that farms use a lot of water, we are clean to waste any lower amount of water.

      Thank you!

      1. xadhominemx · · focus · HN ↗
        Are corn ethanol and feedstock alfalfa (the two largest agricultural consumers of water) essential for the survival of the species?
        1. wallst07 · · focus · HN ↗
          It&#x27;s essential for the united states to be able to feed it&#x27;s population. Keeping land fertile for farming and all the necessary supply chain intact is a national security issue.
      2. inglor_cz · · focus · HN ↗
        Careful about that, much of agriculture does not produce human staple food. Production of almonds in semi-arid regions of California does scream &quot;luxury&quot; to me.
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.