@bascule@mas.to
The water use of (AI) datacenters is often discussed purely in terms of evaporative cooling for the datacenters themselves (which can be replaced with zero-water closed-loop or advanced air cooling with sufficient capex).
But it turns out most datacenter water use is indirect by way of the grid and water-cooled thermal electric generation, like coal and traditional nuclear, which evaporate large quantities of water
it's DEEPLY troubling and fundamentally wrong for IEEE to be carrying water for this absolute lie.
Nuclear power plants consume a fraction of their consumption. Literally single digit percentages. They are very thermodynamically efficient.
And using closed-loop refrigeration to cool a single 80KW+ cabinet at SCALE is effectively impossible. Even moreso with the 'gigawatt' DC bullshit. You would need square miles of energy intensive refrigeration plants.
know why bullshit AI companies refuse to disclose their water? Because their consumption rate is close to 100%. They're literally just spraying and leaking billions of gallons across heat exchangers because 'move fast, break things' and 'they'll give us the water.'
And the amount of pure waste heat is astronomical. 20-60%, with the average on the high side. That's before factoring in pumps, rejection, much less air handlers.
an AI datacenter can consume 5 million gallons of water per day:
https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption
For comparison, the Palo Verde nuclear generating station in water-starved Arizona uses 65 million gallons of water per day. They have begun pumping groundwater as a supplemental water source:
www.eesi.org
Data Centers and Water Consumption | Article | EESIone, 5 million gallons per day is bullshit numbers from the same people that claim their methane generators are 'renewables' and 'carbon neutral.'
Two, Perry Nuclear Power Plant uses an average of 88.23 MILLION gallons PER DAY. Oh wait, no, that's how much water it RETURNS to the same water source after use and treatment.
This bullshit hypothetical DC in other words, consumes more water per day than a 1240MWe NPP.
Palo Verde, by the way, is the second largest in the US at 3942MWe.
