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Why don't they build data centers where it's really cold, for example north of Canada, and just pipe outside air in? If you train an AI, you don't need low lat
by dist-epoch 3y ago
Why don't they build data centers where it's really cold, for example north of Canada, and just pipe outside air in?
If you train an AI, you don't need low latency/high bandwidth Internet access.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- skirmish 3y agoGoogle does in Finland, https://templ.io/blog/hamina-google-data-center/ https://templ.io/blog/hamina-google-data-center/ Sea water is corrosive, hard to use for cooling.
- appointment 3y agoSea water in the eastern Gulf of Finland is about 0.4% salt by weight, compared to 3.5% salt in the ocean.
- yetanotherloss 3y agoThey do, Google had/has one in the Dalles in Oregon next to the dam and there are several in line Canada and Finland. Part of the problem is consistent humidity management, but the other is that air, even really cold air, isn't dense enough to move specific heat as effectively as the same volume of a denser working fluid. For a practical example in the other direction, look at combined cycle gas turbines which use heated air for the primary turbine and the recapture as much denser steam for the secondary.
- icegreentea2 3y agoThe "north" of Canada (assuming you mean a place that has some semblance of infrastructure) doesn't get -that- cold in the summer. Yellowknife and Whitehorse both have average summer temperatures around 20C. In any case, I think you'd still need substantial cooling infrastructure to deal with the summer. Your capital costs are going to waaaay higher. While your thermal management costs will go down, your payroll will probably be higher.