In east-european communist coutries steam was piped from the industrial zones into the cities. Industrial waste heat was used to heat apartment buildings in cit

In east-european communist coutries steam was piped from the industrial zones into the cities. Industrial waste heat was used to heat apartment buildings in cities. It was terrible, because there was no alternative heating in those buildings and heat delivered depended on industrial activity, not weather. But today, waste heat from data centers could be great as a base heating source in nearby cities with local building heating only as a supplement/backup.