Data centers don’t have to be a burden on local communities
This article, written by University of Colorado Boulder professors, discusses how data centers, if designed carefully, can benefit host communities rather than burden them. It explores solutions such as on-site power generation, battery energy storage (citing a Google project in Minnesota), and repurposing waste heat for district heating systems. The authors also highlight advances in computational efficiency to reduce overall energy consumption.
University of Colorado Boulder professors Gregor Henze and Sean Shaheen address growing concerns among consumers, policymakers, and utilities regarding the potential for data centers to escalate electricity demand and power prices. Their engineering research suggests that with careful design and operation, data centers can instead support their host communities.
The authors propose several strategies. One involves integrating on-site power generation, potentially using modified jet engines, and installing backup battery systems capable of providing power not only to the data center but also to the surrounding area during outages or peak demand. They cite a Google plan for a new data center in Minnesota that will feature solar panels, wind turbines, and iron-air batteries, aiming to create the world's largest electricity storage system with a 300-megawatt capacity, capable of powering the data center for up to 100 hours.
Another key area is waste heat recovery. Data centers generate substantial heat, which could be repurposed to warm nearby buildings through district heating systems, or more advanced "thermal microgrids" that use cooler water temperatures. This transforms wasted energy into a resource, with an example given of a 75-megawatt data center in Finland supplying heat to 2,500 homes. The article also touches on advancements in computational efficiency, such as neuromorphic AI and unconventional computing, which promise to drastically reduce energy consumption per computation, further minimizing data centers' environmental footprint. These combined approaches, they argue, could make data centers a beneficial asset for energy affordability and resilience.