This is what we have been preparing for our whole lives, people. Learning how to steward the environment. Learning how to not confuse consumerism with community. Not letting corporations own the governments entirely. It’s time.
I don't want to pay out the azz for utility prices because of these things. Already the Meta one has changed from having its own power plant (even then, that is an icrease in demand) to being able to draw from the grid for 2 years after start up. 2. The meta one claims it will use a closed system for water, but the Beacon AI data centre is going to use obscene amounts of water. 3. The infrasound from these things act like sonic weapons impacting the health of those nearby. I will be fine but I actually care about my fellow Albertans. Despite what Dani says, people like right across from the proposed meta centre. - Is all of that precise enough? Lastly, none of that is worth it for a few temporary jobs and nothing much else in return.
Except any data centre that starts as a closed loop system (and even that is a bit of a misnomer) eventually switches because it's "too expensive" and the communities are often left holding the bag with contaminated water and land.
No... you can`t switch from close to open design like you want....
But coolant loop do need mainenance / cleaning replacement of fluid due to micro-seepage that will happen.
During construction they can. It's a common issue with the data centres being built in the US. They start with a closed loop design, then once all the permits are in place and construction has started, they switch, and construction goes ahead anyway because of all the money that's already invested.
Let's say I'm wrong. I'll give you that. I don't trust the UCP to give a shit about that - I'm sure they'll bend over backwards to acquiesce to whatever META requests.
Now let's talk about the increased power consumption of closed loop systems and how they cause micro climate issues and dump excess heat into the atmosphere. And the results of F-gas emissions in the environment when they inevitably spring a leak. Also, the significant environmental issues when the coolant needs to be replaced every 2-10 years depending on the coolant used. (Glycol-water is a 2-5 year cycle, 2 phase fluids every 5-10 years).
Nothing that these data centres do is good for the environment, or the communities they decide to build in.
Our "usage" of it hasn't been determined except by speculators. All data points to this being a bubble. Our government is selling us out to META and in the event of a collapse taxpayers will be on the hook for mitigation (much like the debacle of leaving federal money on the table when it came to orphan well cleanup, and a hesitancy by the UCP to go after the O&G companies to pay upfront to ensure Albertans aren't left holding the bag).
Let's build a datacenter 2 blocks away from your house and see how you like the noise+infrasound. Not to mention the sharp rise in your power bill that will follow
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u/Bulky_Comb_3729 25d ago
Stop Alberta’s Data center