Texas data center boom could erase decades of progress on air quality
texastribune.orgThe trendy desire to blame data centers for everything is nauseating. Data centers aren't poluting the air. Power plants are.
Since Texas has been leading the nation on renewables because it has a fairly free power market amd renewables are the cheapest power available, I'd expect this surge in demand to be eventually replaced by more renewables. In the meantime, extra capacity comes from old plants that can be spun up quickly.
>Data centers aren't poluting the air. Power plants are.
Currently for Datacenter's to move forward in Texas they must have some local power production so you see some of the newer upcoming ones featuring 20+ portable gas turbines on site. Others feature mixed solar/portable gas turbine.
Those will all go to renewables over time, just as all of texas has been, because it's cheaper.
This is temporary because of the surge in power. Renewables will be built to handle the surge if it becomes a new baseline.
That doesn't really help the people who suffer serious health issues from the surge of pollution in the neighborhood while waiting for the nearby data center to eventually maybe switch to renewable energy.
When?
The equipment for grid connections is already 5 years behind in Texas. Are we talking about 20 or 30 years from now? Might as well be a lifetime.
Grid stuff is 5yr out everywhere, including my "we don't even have datacenter projects to speak of because out power is just that expensive" region. That's just how the industry moves.
Previous poster: This is temporary because of the surge in power
You: Grid stuff is 5yr out everywhere
The article: Grid connections being years out is going to cause a huge increase in pollution because datacenters are setting up local gas operatings at the gigawatt scale.
I think a lot of people are missing the entire point. The next 10-20 years is going to have a huge spike in pollution (and CO2 release) that is going to affect humans and the grid at large.
Data centers often come with their very own natural gas turbines right outside to provide power the grid can't supply. This is what happened at xAI's data center in Memphis.
Correct. They will operate until the grid can supply reliable power. Give it a few years. There is a massive backlog to grid connectivity and generation construction.
That massive backlog already exists for what is being built now, not things in the pipeline. Your looking at 10+ years at getting that tied in.
I don't think you have any clue on the size of the projects being suggested. We are talking 3 times the size of the current texas grid which is twice as large as the California grid. It is a mind shattering amount of power that would be required if it could all be built.
> Data centers aren't poluting the air. Power plants are.
"Guns don't kill people, people do."
Neither argument holds water.
The trendy desire to blame obesity for preventable death is nauseating. Obesity doesn't kill people. Heart attacks and cancers do.
FFS.
Your analogy is that data centers are like obesity because they require power. Are Aluminum smelters also like obesity?
A better analogy would be to blame exercise for food shortages because it makes people hungry.
Let's not ignore the years before LLM-oriented data centers actually if ever switch to renewable energy, never mind whether the switch will "reverse" the long-term effects of high pollution during the first years. Refining GP's and your analogies:
Imagine if an overweight person could only lose significant weight if they temporarily underwent obesity for a few years. While many overweight people exist, we should actively prevent more people from becoming overweight, and we should change the socioeconomic and political circumstances that contribute to excessive weight gain.
Imagine if a moderate exercise session causes a person to feel severe hunger pains for a few hours that do not immediately abate upon eating. Such an unfair biological condition would incentivize the person to avoid moderate or vigorous exercise. If the person attempts to power through the pain, the pain may trick them into eating more than they need to at the expense of their wallets, their health, and collective food supply. We should encourage such individuals to set aside longer times for light exercise if their finances and work allow them to, teach people to reduce their extra calorie margins without sacrificing necessary nutrients (especially because taking in less extra most-things is easier than removing extra most-things), and research palliative and curative medical treatments for this condition.
It's election season, and data centers are being thrown around ads continuously to scare the olds into voting.
It's one bridge away from selling them Old Glory robot insurance.
"Data centers are everywhere and they consume old people's medicine for fuel."
Natural gas is better than coal. Natural gas exhausts can be sequestered. But since we can't even break the coal habit let alone embrace renewables and clear the path for nuclear as needed, good luck! Stupid meatbags.
Love to know who this actually triggers and what's inaccurate about the above? Coal is super good and clean? Natural gas emissions can't be sequestered despite numerous examples of exactly that? How dare I even suggest nuclear? Or is it just downright America-hating unpatriotic and letting the evil drag queens win? Genuinely curious.