Subj : AI push from US tech giants leads to skyrocketing water consumpti
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Mon Aug 19 2024 21:15:05

AI push from US tech giants leads to skyrocketing water consumption figures

Date:
Mon, 19 Aug 2024 20:08:00 +0000

Description:
Data Centre Alley water consumption has jumped two-thirds since 2019.

FULL STORY
======================================================================

It probably comes as no surprise some tech giants are falling short when it 
comes to sustainability, with harmful mining practices, giant carbon 
footprints, and massive energy usage plaguing green goals. 

Now, new research from the Financial Times has also identified water 
consumption practices amongst tech giants has reached untenable levels in 
some locations. 

Water is primarily used in these centres to cool high-performing hardware, 
using air mechanisms to dissipate heat, causing up to nine liters of water to 
evaporate per kWh of energy used. A precious resource 

The report notes roughly two thirds of the worlds population experiences 
severe water shortages at least one month per year, with that figure only set 
to rise. This is equivalent to 2.7 billion people per year experiencing water 
stress, with 2.2 million children dying from water-related disease. 

That doesnt stop tech companies though, with their Virginia data centre alley 
warehouses using at least 7 billion litres of water in 2023 alone. 

In fact, Microsoft admitted that 42% of the water it consumes globally came 
from areas with water stress in 2023, with Google similarly claiming 15% of 
its freshwater withdrawals came from high water scarcity areas. The AI factor 

The environmental impact of Artificial Intelligence is yet to be fully 
evaluated, but the industry is stuck between huge greenhouse gas emissions 
and dangerous levels of water consumption. Whilst water cooling has been 
found to reduce emissions, it comes at the cost of one of our most valuable 
resources. 

Servers that run AI algorithms generate more heat than classic computing 
systems, requiring 6 times more kilowatts per rack - with a 5-50 prompt 
conversation with ChatGPT using approximately 500ml of water alone. 

Amazon recently said it has "committed to being a good water steward, 
insisting data centres will be water positive by 2030, but environmental 
campaigners warn that AI will cause demand for computing infrastructure to 
explode. More from TechRadar Pro Sustainable IT ideas aren't being taken 
seriously Check out our pick of the best CPU coolers Data centre efficiency: 
Go green or go home



======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/water-consumption-skyrockets-thanks-to-us-tech-g
iants


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
 * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)

.