• NotANumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 days ago

    The majority of datacenters and datacenter power consumption are not for AI. Before AI no one cared about datacenters. Still no one cares about datacenters that already existed and make up the majority of datacenters. I don’t understand it. Is this just manufactured outrage?

    • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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      3 days ago

      Data centers went from the tens of megawatts range to the gigawatts range because they’re being stuffed with increasingly power hungry AI chips at great density, and they’re also building larger ones. Some of the planned data centers are going to crack 10 gigawatts each. The record electricity consumption rate for my entire country of ~1.3 million people is 1.6 gigawatts in the winter. That includes industry AND multiple non-AI data centers.

      So now everyone else has to pay more for electricity in the affected communities, as the demand’s gone up. And water’s going to be scarcer. And they’re literally piping out hot steam at you in already hot areas, to the point that some neighborhoods might become unlivable due to the increased wet bulb temperature.

      Luckily, yes, some of the bigger ones are planning on-site gas power plants (and a little bit of solar), but then you’re left asking yourself if more fossil fuel based generation is much better than just driving everyone’s fees up through the grid. It doesn’t drive our electricity costs up, but it’s still bad for the climate.

      • NotANumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 days ago

        What do you want me to put together? Why don’t you just come out and say what you mean instead of beating around the bush?

    • TronBronson@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      People hate data centers because they are being forced into our communities without our consent. Consent. Consent.consent

      • NotANumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        6 days ago

        Most datacenters are not in urban communities they are in industrial zones.

        You also don’t need the consent of other people to build things on land you own. Get out of here with this shit.

        • TronBronson@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          You do need consent from other people…. That’s the whole point of zoning laws…… which is half the reason why there’s a housing crisis…. I’m a real estate agent and a real estate developer and have been for two decades so I don’t need your childish little fucking opinion on shit. Always some libertarian moron trying to pretend like laws don’t exist everywhere.

          • NotANumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            5 hours ago

            If you need the consent to build them then how are they being forced on communities without consent? You are contradicting yourself now.

          • NotANumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            1 day ago

            Yeah you need the consent of the council for planning permission. Not the consent of the individual people.

            I am not a libertarian either, but whatever.

            • TronBronson@lemmy.world
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              10 hours ago

              Well, you’ve kind of missed the basis of a democracy. You the individual person cast a vote for your council person, right? Usually when we have town council meetings regarding real estate development, individual people do show up and scream.

              • NotANumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                6 hours ago

                Thinking democracy actually works and the representatives actually care about the people is very wishful thinking. From my experience they don’t and they haven’t for a long time.

              • NotANumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                7 hours ago

                I wouldn’t know. I haven’t been to a town council meeting before.

                Would a town council even be involved in an industrial zone which might not even be part of a town?