I get it, truly, but we've been dejecting heat to the ocean for a good while. Ocean water cools marine engines and equipment, and heck we use rivers to cool lots of things -- even reactors, which ends up back in the ocean. Data center cooling might be one of the more responsible uses because it's (hopefully) not leeching petroleum or radioactive byproducts into the water.
I'm actually a little more upset now than when I started this comment.
Sounds like a great idea. OTOH, impossible to calculate the damage to local ecosystems vs. traditional methods.
Totally uneducated guess: Probably better? Cooling is a major power suck, as well as consuming water.
Roughly 40 percent of the electricity consumed by an ordinary data center is for this purpose.
We're draining aquifers that take thousands of years to build up. Don't read up on that, it's horrifying. So if we have to have data centers, I'm gambling that underwater is the lesser of two evils.
It was to study its effectiveness and sustainability iirc, not meant to be done for actual production at that point in time.
I guess one major downside is that if a component breaks, be it something simple like a capacitor, there is no easy way to replace it, so it has to be designed with that in mind.
19 Comments
bloodfoot@programming.dev · 51 pts · 322d
Right, humans are actually gonna boil the ocean... aren't we.
Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 10 pts · 322d
Rain World (2017)
01189998819991197253@infosec.pub · 1 pts · 319d
We're giving a new meaning to primordial soup.
SendMePhotos@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 322d
There are already llava/magma vents in the ocean... But the thought of human heat being added makes me upset because it's just another piece.
techt@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 322d
I get it, truly, but we've been dejecting heat to the ocean for a good while. Ocean water cools marine engines and equipment, and heck we use rivers to cool lots of things -- even reactors, which ends up back in the ocean. Data center cooling might be one of the more responsible uses because it's (hopefully) not leeching petroleum or radioactive byproducts into the water.
I'm actually a little more upset now than when I started this comment.
>:(technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 321d
Yes and there is already a sun shining above ground so global warming is no problem either.. smh.
subignition@fedia.io · 16 pts · 322d
If we can't stop the energy from being used anyway, why not make a desalination plant out of it too? 🤦
favoredponcho@lemmy.zip · 14 pts · 322d
shalafi@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 322d
Sounds like a great idea. OTOH, impossible to calculate the damage to local ecosystems vs. traditional methods.
Totally uneducated guess: Probably better? Cooling is a major power suck, as well as consuming water.
We're draining aquifers that take thousands of years to build up. Don't read up on that, it's horrifying. So if we have to have data centers, I'm gambling that underwater is the lesser of two evils.
fubarx@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 322d
Microsoft and Google both prototyped it. FWIW, they didn't take it to production once the data was collected.
IIRC, cooling worked fine if placed in the right place with circulation, but maintenance and part replacement was a major issue.
lunarul@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 322d
That was my first thought: who's going to be the underwater IT guy?
Edit: as an interesting coincidence, I just interviewed an engineer today who has rescue diver on his resume with 16 years of diving experience
fubarx@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 322d
Obi@sopuli.xyz · 0 pts · 322d
winkly@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 322d
Quick! The oceans aren’t heating up fast enough! 🤦♂️
scottmeme@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 322d
Microsoft did it first
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 321d
Nothing better than destroying the planet for a quick buck off a cheap grift.
Chinese capitalism <---> Planetary destruction <---> USA capitalism
zerofk@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 321d
Didn’t Microsoft do this a decade or two ago already? Or was that just exploring the idea?
schema@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 321d
It was to study its effectiveness and sustainability iirc, not meant to be done for actual production at that point in time.
I guess one major downside is that if a component breaks, be it something simple like a capacitor, there is no easy way to replace it, so it has to be designed with that in mind.
RagingRobot@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 322d
Cool
calliope@retrolemmy.com · 2 pts · 321d
All I hear is “China is heating up the ocean too, ON PURPOSE!”
RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 321d
This is just until they can start putting them in space, behind the moon.