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Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
- ck2 11y agoVery surprised to read google doesn't have a single datacenter in Africa. The continent is huge and if latency is important, they would definitely need multiple locations there. check this out for scale http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html
- vezycash 11y agoThe reason is simple. Basic network capacity is underdeveloped. Radio waves account for the bulk of communication. And most importantly, there's little to no direct connection between neighboring countries. So even if Google built a datacenter in Africa, it would not solve latency issues and might even make it worse because virtually all requests go outside of the continent.
- ck2 11y agoSo in the end it is a chicken/egg problem - no communication structure because there is nothing to transmit. No datacenter because there is no communications. But I've also read that mobile banking is MASSIVE in africa, more than the entire rest of the world combined. Plus Africa is extremely diverse, I suspect there must be several cities that could benefit from a google datacenter.
- vezycash 11y agoThe reason for mobile banking being explosive in growth is linked to network speed and availability. Mobile banking in countries I've visited are operated by the mobile networks. Therefore, they don't suffer from round-trip issues as bank apps. Plus ease of use. They have more in common with PayPal than normal banking services.
- triplesec 11y agomostly true, but there is at least some undersea cable infrastructure to and between the countries. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WACS_(cable_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WACS_(cable_system) as an example. Bottlenecks tend to be within countries where fibre is often not built out further than the capitals, especially in the poorest ones like Guinea and Sierra Leone, where I was working on networks this year. On the other hand, Cote D'Ivoire has a very good infrasructure, and internet is much more accessible than elsewhere. I believe Senegal, the digital powerhouse of the West Africa region, at least, has the same. But much internet is still only point-to-point microwave if you're lucky (and that supports telephone and mobile data communication backbones too), or VSAT, if you're not.
- javajosh 11y agoWell, if you were going to attempt to invoke a super-intelligent being then a data-center in Africa might be just the right place to do it.
- sdenton4 11y agoPolitical stability is also a potential issue. If you're putting K-hundred-million dollars into a top-rate data center, risks associated with political instability become hard to stomach. Kenya is a great place to work, and quite open to outside investment, but had major problems two elections back, a scare at the last election, and ongoing problems with al-shabab. One of the best places to work in SSA, and still doesn't feel all that stable.
- skrebbel 11y agoBut if you put K-hundred-million dollars into a wind park, that problem goes away?
- awqrre 11y agoNorth America is ~9.5 million sq mi and Africa is ~11.7 million sq mi according to Wikipedia...
- majurg 11y agoThat infographic left out Alaska, Canada and Mexico.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- ck2 11y agoUSA is 10,000 square KM and Africa is 30,000 sq KM http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html
- Scarblac 11y agoA square that is 100km on both sides is 10,000 square km. I always imagined the US was larger than that.
- EC1 11y agoNow they'll be able to build mud huts at twice the speed. edit: Oh come on it was a joke, like they won't use the electricity to help infrastructure, but use it to dry the mud quicker. I know at least one of you edgelords laughed.
- ZeroGravitas 11y agoI think they've corrected the headline to remove the 2 billion figure.
- giarc 11y ago>Correction: This story originally misstated the size of Google’s investment. Google has not disclosed its investment in the Kenyan wind project.
- cademetz 11y agoYes, $2 billion figure is incorrect. Google's total investment in clean energy projects exceeds $2bn.
- giarc 11y agoBut it's not $2 billion into that specific wind project, as the title implies.
- gopowerranger 11y agoBut I read here and on reddit that Google is evil.
- dogma1138 11y agoLockheed Martin invests billions each year in clean energy development also, doesn't mean that some people won't take offense with their other activities.