Also, the bigger problem is buried at the bottom of the article:
As for water usage, data centers consumed 21.2 billion liters of water in 2014. That hit 66bn in 2023, with 84 percent of that going to hyperscale data centers. Hyperscalers alone are expected to consume between 60 and 124 billion liters in 2028.
We can potentially find new energy sources or find ways to make our current ones much more efficient. Finding new sources of fresh water is much harder. We can’t make the amount of water our bodies need and our crops need more efficient.
Also, the bigger problem is buried at the bottom of the article:
We are running out of fresh water as it is.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/parts-america-water-crisis/story?id=98484121
We can potentially find new energy sources or find ways to make our current ones much more efficient. Finding new sources of fresh water is much harder. We can’t make the amount of water our bodies need and our crops need more efficient.
Are we sure it’s fresh? Are we excluding projects like data centers with seaside cooling loops?
Do you think if you exclude those it isn’t still a major fresh water wastage issue during a water crisis?
Here’s where just Google’s data centers are. How many of do those do you think are cooled with sea water?
Edit: Yes really. They have a DATA CENTER in LAS VEGAS.