The boom is set to produce enough greenhouse gases to cancel out 15 years of declines in power-sector emissions, according to a Sierra Club analysis.

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[–] [S] 1 point 1 week ago (5 children)

A single new datacenter in the pipeline from Amazon is going to consume above 7000MW. Landfill can and should be burned in useful ways, but it's not going to supply anything like what the tech industry is planning to use.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

    Right, I addressed that. It doesn't be a complete net zero replacement. DCs are going to be built. Any offset is an improvement on the status quo. Building on the landfill isn't just about the electricity, its about reducing water consumption, land use, and impact on residents.

    A single new datacenter in the pipeline from Amazon is going to consume above 7000MW.

    That size of DC is the exception not the rule. Its the largest DC ever prospose in the USA. The currently largest built DC in the world is only 1000MW

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 week ago (3 children)

    Partial offset doesn't stabilize temperature. It's going to need to be 100%

    They're not even trying though

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago* (2 children)

    Partial offset doesn’t stabilize temperature. It’s going to need to be 100%

    If you're seeking a single silver bullet to the problem, you're never going to find it. It will be a combination of solutions. My proposal is just one of them.

    They’re not even trying though

    There's some trying, but not enough for my liking. Google has DCs are run by hydropower (with more being built). Microsoft has bought up an existing decommissioned nuclear power plant to put it back into service. Its not enough, but its also not nothing.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 week ago (1 child)

    I'm not looking for a silver bullet. But part of success is demand avoidance. And creating demand at the scale the datacenters are doing is going to make it far far harder to get to zero.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

    I don't disagree, but if climate change is your primary concern, Datacenters are a tiny contributor at 0.5% of global CO2 emissions (and CO2 isn't even the only green house gas). Even still, the demand avoidance argument doesn't dismiss or negate the reduction benefits derived from using landfill gas, toxic water sources, and polluted land.

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