Don’t panic about AI data centres and water – it’s energy we should worry about

Before committing fully, we need granular detail on how much water and energy these centres use.

We can’t manage what we don’t measure. Data centres are a textbook example of a data gap impeding good policy.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics rolls data centres into a broader category.

This means we can’t access detailed statistics on how much water or energy data centres use. Nor how much they add to the national accounts.

The federal government has introduced new expectations on water use and efficiency for data centre operators. That’s something. But it’s not the same as a national picture that fits with existing official statistics. Only one data centre meets the new national water-efficiency rating.

Surprisingly, Australia’s National AI Plan has little focus on water and energy. State and federal water ministers have named data centres as an emerging threat to water security. A Senate inquiry is in progress.

Australia is a dry continent. They don’t even bring up climate change in the article. Imo we are stumbling around in the dark, or in the slop, for a technology which is taking away our privacy, our safety and even our sovereignty. Will it also rob people’s and the environment’s right to water and clean energy? We are too easily distracted by, and from, this behemoth.

  • ikt@aussie.zone
    22·
    4 days ago

    Australia is a dry continent. They don’t even bring up climate change in the article

    I don’t get it? The water doesn’t disappear it just goes back into the air again as it evaporates

    Will it also rob people’s and the environment’s right to water and clean energy

    If the government is running out of water then they should build more desalination plants, in terms of energy:

    In addition to bringing their own clean energy or storage to offset demand on the grid, operators will be expected to cover the full share of power connection costs and support network stability.

    Energy Minister Chris Bowen said it was important to get the investment settings right to keep the electricity system secure and prices low.

    “Data centres have great potential to support our grid and expand new renewable investment,” he said.

    https://reneweconomy.com.au/byo-renewables-new-national-principles-set-bar-for-data-centre-energy-and-water-use/

    • Dave.@aussie.zone
      3·
      4 days ago

      I don’t get it? The water doesn’t disappear it just goes back into the air again as it evaporates

      Water in the air is useless. Water on the ground, in storage, is useful. That’s the hard part, it doesn’t fall out of the sky on demand.

      If the government is running out of water then they should build more desalination plants, in terms of energy

      The “government” isn’t the one running out of water. It’s the population, and desal plants a) aren’t cheap b) use more power than what the bare minimum of renewable energy a data center install will provide after it’s own usage and c) has environmental issues as well with excess salinity getting put back in the oceans, and - oh yeah - you have to put it next to the ocean.

      If companies want to build datacenters, they need to provide cooling methods that don’t use prodigious amounts of water, or they can fuck off.

      Those alternative methods are entirely possible, it’s just that they’re not the cheapest option available, so of course nobody wants to do it .