This article is keyword stuffed nonsense.<p>Take the first sentence.<p><i>> As recently discussed on The Carbon Copy with Brian Janous, utilities are seeing major forecasted demand growth for the first time in decades, and almost entirely from data centers.</i><p>Utilities aren't seeing major forecasted demand growth for the first time in decades. It isn't entirely from DCs.<p>The author appears to have a startup, pitching a Power to NatGas plus direct air capture system because "Why not?™" [0]. I'm offended on behalf of chemical engineers everywhere.<p>[0]<a href="https://terraformindustries.wordpress.com/2023/06/26/the-terraformer-mark-one/" rel="nofollow">https://terraformindustries.wordpress.com/2023/06/26/the-ter...</a>
i have a crazy idea... how about... <i>not</i> focusing on ever increasing the size of ai models, so that we don't need to build all those power-hungry ai training datacenters? just a thought
If your business model depends on a continuous growth curve where your profitability point is more than two years away... you may be planning for an exit in 18 months.<p>The only reliable long term growth curves so far are world population and global average temperature.
Solar is no way close to being reliable, all weather and cheap source of energy that nuclear and fossil fuel can be, which are critical for the tech industry in general.
Easy: utility of AI is huge, load is understandable and controllable.<p>DC are run by companies with a shitload of money.<p>Not a hard problem.<p>And we can use the heat to heat houses too!
The problem is that massive amounts of PV is needed to replace existing fossil fuels, so these would be extending the carbon output of coal/natural gas.<p>If AI training is being that power hungry, maybe we shouldn't be doing it ... right now.<p>It's all fueled by speculative VC funding. This isn't a slam dunk economics calculation, certainly no more than regulation to shut this nonsense down would be.