<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/is-australia-a-good-place-for-data-centres-and-where-do-we-draw-the-line-on-byo-energy/>
"Opposition to data centres in the USA has increased, spreading out from
specific community-level concerns to a broader argument about the impact on
electricity prices. These concerns could harden into a widespread movement
opposing AI and data centres, matched by a counter-movement insisting “AI and
data centres are wonderful.”
Demand for data centres in Australia is growing strongly. RenewMap identifies
close to 1800 MW under construction. Despite limited disclosure, what is being
built in Australia is nothing like what Amazon, OpenAI and Meta are building in
the USA.
Although data centre size is typically expressed in megawatts (MW), in reality
the power cost and power supply is the second most important item. USA AI data
centre costs are dominated by depreciation on the graphics processing units
(GPUs) and the associated “racks” and clusters.
As far as power goes, in the USA new data centres are dominated by gas;
renewables rarely get a mention. Whether in the USA or Australia, backup is
done with diesel gensets.
The USA industry argues, to the extent they have any interest, that gas is the
only technology available near-term. I’d argue that renewables can be built far
more quickly than gas generation – and that using gas actually undermines the
industry’s ability to earn society’s trust.
However the more general concern is the idea that data centres have to bring
their own generation. Since when? Does every house have to bring its own
generation, does every shop, where do we draw the line?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
