Data Centers, energy and water demand, and how AI fits in.

[CoopersDad]

I would love to hear from DUers what you know and think about the frightening growth in energy and water demand attributable to Data Centers, AI, Bitcoin, and other web-based applications.

I attended two energy-related conferences this past year:

The Oracle Center was the venue for the Sustainable Growth Summit, where the challenge of meeting increasing energy and water demands while simultaneously defending these as "sustainable" was the day's topic.

https://www.svlg.org/silicon-valley-leadership-groups-first-annual-sustainable-growth-summit-driving-innovation-for-a-sustainable-future/

Then, last month I attended the PG&E Innovation Summit 2024, Presented by DISTRIBUTECH®, at the Signia by Hilton San Jose, where Patti Poppe, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, and leaders in the applied AI sector discussed how AI would be essential in meeting a spectrum of challenges in the energy and environment sectors, many of which are created by AI.

https://web.cvent.com/event/d0a7c83a-dfb3-46fe-9be5-617b1463173d/summary

Some takeaways:

San Jose plans to build a data center integrated with new housing development.
The power for data centers eventually becomes heat-- the heat can be captured and used for domestic water heating and space heating, thus displacing the need for gas or electricity for those purposes.
It's not a cure, but it moves in the right direction.

Some additional resources:
https://www.iea.org/commentaries/what-the-data-centre-and-ai-boom-could-mean-for-the-energy-sector
https://www.energy.gov/policy/articles/clean-energy-resources-meet-data-center-electricity-demand
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/global-data-center-electricity-use-to-double-by-2026-report/