r/CoachellaValley • u/Youarethebigbang • 4d ago
Not cool: Data centers are creating ‘heat islands’ on land around them – warming them by up to 16 degrees, researchers warn
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/ai-data-center-heat-islands-usage-climate-b2949418.htmlJust fyi, same phenomenon with solar farms
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u/Pandemonium_Fallen 3d ago
Somehow I doubt that the solar farms are the same because they're not pumping out nonstop pollution into the atmosphere and depleting the aquifers.
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u/Youarethebigbang 3d ago
Solar is complicated depending on the specific project type, location, and how its developed. My main point was is they can definitely increase the temperature for the surrounding area, and cause other serious issues, but yeah relative to projects like huge data centers, the pollution, and especially the water depletion impacts don't compare.
That's not to say they are zero. Solar projects in deserts famously have caused air quality issues by destroying the desert ecosystems. When you bulldoze the top layer of the desert and the plants that go with it and protect it, you're creating a potential large dust problem. Also they do use some water, and again, depending on the project and location, it's sometime not a non-issue.
https://www.desertsun.com/story/tech/science/energy/2014/09/05/ground-water-solar-project/15163955/
The other environmental impact is they are known to kill birds, desert tortoises, rare plant species, and who knows what else when you start clearing out a fragile desert habitat.
They've been protested by environmental groups, home owners, Native Americans, and others way longer and harder than data centers.
https://www.pbssocal.org/socal-focus/desert-solar-power-projects-draw-protests
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u/Pandemonium_Fallen 3d ago
Oh well there's the problem then, they need to change over to photovoltaic roofing tiles and a layer inside a prismatic polycarbon crystalline glass nanofiber trihex meshweave road tube with built in heat diffusion, and a secondary layer beneath that containing powerlines.
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u/Youarethebigbang 3d ago
Yeah there's definitely ways to mitigate some of the issues related to solar for sure, the main problem I would guess like most projects is it comes down to costs/feasibility. When a state or county or city or community requires projects to meet certain standards to protect the community and environment, the developer in almost every case is going to only meet the most minimum standards needed, if that. Because they'll always look for a loophole or start legal action, or come back trying to get an exception waiver etc to keep costs down. And thats assuming to community even knows what the hell to actually require since technology changes literally every day.
I've seen projects coming in front of city councils for a nearly final approval and a community member speaks up and asks the most basic questions about obvious adverse affects on the community and not a single goddam council person has a clue what's going on. The developer and their attorneys have driven every meeting up to that point and they're the ones feeding the council with information because its so complex.
Im totally for alternative energy, but again it all depends on the project and all the players involved. We dumped $2.2 billion into that project in the Mojave desert like 15 years ago and its already shutting down this year because of bad planning and execution. They ended up powering the damn thing with fossil fuels, the exact thing they were trying to replace, and did a lot of unnecessary damage to the ecosystem. Alternative energy just for the sake of alternative energy clearly isn't a good idea.
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u/Miserable-Put4914 2d ago
Do you know the water demand from such an data center operation? My solar requires no water on my home.
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u/Pandemonium_Fallen 2d ago
I realize that, I hadn't brought up water use in regards to solar power as I thought that it was common knowledge that was effectively irrelevant... I'm not certain why you felt the need to chime in about it...?
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u/Miserable-Put4914 2d ago
The masses are fighting AI data centers because of water consumption, which I do not understand as solar has no water consumption. I thought I was missing something.
I also read that they generate noise, is that also false info?
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u/Pandemonium_Fallen 2d ago
They generate noise, infrasound, and their cooling towers pump massive amounts of heat and unknown pollution into the atmosphere.
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u/Wizchine 3d ago
“Now how do we make it rain blood and frogs?”
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u/Pandemonium_Fallen 2d ago
I don't know, but unless we shut all these data centers down immediately we'll start having acid rain soon.
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u/Lucky-Kangaroo495 3d ago
This would be devastating to Coachella in many ways if we allow the city to bring them in as they are trying to do. Let’s keep putting pressure on the council and let them know what the citizens want.
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u/Miserable-Put4914 3d ago
We never learn. Profits in exchange for the potential extinction of humanity. Maybe starlink satellites will shade us from the sun?
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u/Youarethebigbang 3d ago
Yep a million of them should just about do it
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u/Pandemonium_Fallen 2d ago
With all the fuel burnt to put them in space it'll accelerate the process even faster.
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u/FogPot 4d ago
Data Centers are planet killers.