5 ms·

At some point it becomes linear though, there is a base cost to electricity. Google builds datacenters near coal power plants specifically to get (literally) di

by tinco 6y ago

At some point it becomes linear though, there is a base cost to electricity. Google builds datacenters near coal power plants specifically to get (literally) dirt cheap electricity.

sillysaurusx 6y ago
This is true. But researchers are divorced from those realities. The day-to-day researchers almost never have to think like "If I run this, will it cost a ton?" Those kinds of agreements are usually made on a company basis, i.e. there's no cost to just leave a model running and see what happens. (Which is a huge advantage, by the way.)
boulos 6y ago
Just a correction here: we build datacenters near large sources of renewable / hydro plants (I consider hydro a borderline case). We buy renewable credits for everything and are even trying to timeshift load now to match renewable generation peaks. tl;dr: not coal plants :).
- tinco 6y ago
  Is it just a coincidence that the Eemshaven (eu-west4) datacenter is close to a coal plant then? I'm pretty sure we're going to close that plant soon though.
  - nl 6y ago
    > Is it just a coincidence that the Eemshaven (eu-west4) datacenter is close to a coal plant then? Presumably, since: "Our data center in Eemshaven was the first to be powered by 100% renewable energy from day one." https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/eemshaven/ https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/eemshaven...
    - tinco 6y ago
      I appreciate them buying credits, but as nice as those windmills and solar panels are, when the sun doesn't shine, and the wind doesn't blow, what gets burned is coal. Anyway I suppose that's more a policy issue of The Netherlands, I think it's quite shameful we still have coal plants. Those credits hide the real cost of renewable energy.
      - nl 6y ago
        I'm not sure - they say the data center is "the first Google datacenter to be powered by 100% renewable energy from day one." https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/dutch-datacenter-google-100-renewable-energy/ https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/dutch... And they seem pretty serious about removing non-renewables altogether. https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-sustainability.appspot.com/pdf/achieving-100-renewable-energy-purchasing-goal.pdf https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-sustainability.appspot.c...

by tinco 6y ago

At some point it becomes linear though, there is a base cost to electricity. Google builds datacenters near coal power plants specifically to get (literally) dirt cheap electricity.

sillysaurusx 6y ago

This is true. But researchers are divorced from those realities. The day-to-day researchers almost never have to think like "If I run this, will it cost a ton?" Those kinds of agreements are usually made on a company basis, i.e. there's no cost to just leave a model running and see what happens. (Which is a huge advantage, by the way.)

boulos 6y ago

Just a correction here: we build datacenters near large sources of renewable / hydro plants (I consider hydro a borderline case). We buy renewable credits for everything and are even trying to timeshift load now to match renewable generation peaks. tl;dr: not coal plants :).

tinco 6y ago
Is it just a coincidence that the Eemshaven (eu-west4) datacenter is close to a coal plant then? I'm pretty sure we're going to close that plant soon though.
- nl 6y ago
  > Is it just a coincidence that the Eemshaven (eu-west4) datacenter is close to a coal plant then? Presumably, since: "Our data center in Eemshaven was the first to be powered by 100% renewable energy from day one." https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/eemshaven/ https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/eemshaven...
  - tinco 6y ago
    I appreciate them buying credits, but as nice as those windmills and solar panels are, when the sun doesn't shine, and the wind doesn't blow, what gets burned is coal. Anyway I suppose that's more a policy issue of The Netherlands, I think it's quite shameful we still have coal plants. Those credits hide the real cost of renewable energy.
    - nl 6y ago
      I'm not sure - they say the data center is "the first Google datacenter to be powered by 100% renewable energy from day one." https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/dutch-datacenter-google-100-renewable-energy/ https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/dutch... And they seem pretty serious about removing non-renewables altogether. https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-sustainability.appspot.com/pdf/achieving-100-renewable-energy-purchasing-goal.pdf https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-sustainability.appspot.c...