How Can We Ensure Fossil Fuels Aren't Proliferating to Store Our Cat Videos?

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There’s a rising concern in regards to the vitality use in information facilities. Information facilities are successfully that — a central location the place our information is saved, and bounced out and in to stream no matter it’s the finish person 1000’s of miles away is requesting on the web, whether or not it’s a CleanTechnica article, CleanTechnica YouTube video, CleanTech Talk podcast … or … one thing else? Why, I don’t know, however folks do eat different media moreover ours. Shrug … some persons are bizarre.

All kidding apart, although, it’s an enormous problem. Mixed with cryptocurrency mining operations, information facilities draw a ridiculous quantity of vitality. Simply to offer an instance, according to the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), these “large flexible load” use factors will draw 54 billion (with a b) kWh in 2025, up virtually 60% from 2024. Texas is only a microcosm of what’s happening all over the world, as our information utilization will simply proceed to develop.

That’s the unhealthy information. The excellent news is that these facilities may be co-located in locations with giant quantities of renewable vitality (locations the place land is reasonable, wind is howling, geothermal exercise is excessive, and/or the solar is shining more often than not), as a result of it doesn’t matter as a lot the place they’re, because of the miracle of how briskly information can fly over the web.

The information within the center, although, is that there’s a ton of labor that also must be finished to ensure that these information facilities are literally powered by renewables. If not, they may have a makeshift energy system powered by fossils, similar to industrial mills.

CleanTechnica’s upcoming webinar on October 22 will handle this essential problem, and the way we discover that center path to make sure that all of your cat movies are, in truth, powered by clear vitality. This webinar is produced in partnership with LandGatea renewable vitality facilitator that helps property house owners join with renewable vitality builders and provides all of them the instruments they should get initiatives finished and extra clear vitality on the grid.

This text was sponsored by LandGate.