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"Just to be contrarian: ..." Contrarian to the article or to other HN commenters This article reports on facts, i.e., the CSO data primarily. It also mention

"Just to be contrarian: ..." Contrarian to the article or to other HN commenters This article reports on facts, i.e., the CSO data primarily. It also mentions the existence of controversy It is not taking a position for or against anything What does it mean to be "contrarian" with respect to an article like this one To me, this weird defensive behaviour, i.e., absurd attempts to "argue in favour of data centers", is what raises a red flag The reporting of facts on energy and water use, i.e., data, triggers this behaviour from HN commenters, as opposed to being triggered by the people who are protesting or campaigning against data centers. This article and many others like it have no hint of "anger" whatsoever. The authors are not taking sides in any debate Then we have companies actively trying to conceal data about data centers. This sort of behaviour is, IMHO, a red flag If data centers "have value" and are needed despite their impacts, and the proof of this is that "people are using AI" then what's the problem Why respond to articles that simply report usage statistics (cf. responding to angry protesters or legislation aimed at regulating data center construction) The article is not taking a position for or against the construction and operation of data centers

1vuio0pswjnm7 4mo ago
For example, this is from another article in the The Irish Times: "Data centres accounted for almost a quarter of the electricity consumed in Ireland last year, up from 5 per cent in 2015, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Tuesday, amid continuing public debate around the strain the sector is putting on Irish energy infrastructure." A total of 7,663 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity from Ireland's expanding grid capacity was used by data centres in 2025, up 10 per cent from 6,973GWh in 2024. Consumption by all other users, including households, rose by just 2 per cent over the same period, the statistics agency said. In total, data centres alone accounted for 23 per cent of metered electricity consumption last year, up from just over a fifth in 2024. The latest CSO figures also reveal that data centres increased their electricity consumption on a quarterly basis, from 291 GWh in the first quarter of 2015 to 1,991 GWh in the fourth quarter of last year." These are just facts. The aricle is not arguing for or against anything But HN commenters get triggered by such reporting That's a red flag, IMHO

1vuio0pswjnm7 4mo ago

For example, this is from another article in the The Irish Times: "Data centres accounted for almost a quarter of the electricity consumed in Ireland last year, up from 5 per cent in 2015, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Tuesday, amid continuing public debate around the strain the sector is putting on Irish energy infrastructure." A total of 7,663 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity from Ireland's expanding grid capacity was used by data centres in 2025, up 10 per cent from 6,973GWh in 2024. Consumption by all other users, including households, rose by just 2 per cent over the same period, the statistics agency said. In total, data centres alone accounted for 23 per cent of metered electricity consumption last year, up from just over a fifth in 2024. The latest CSO figures also reveal that data centres increased their electricity consumption on a quarterly basis, from 291 GWh in the first quarter of 2015 to 1,991 GWh in the fourth quarter of last year." These are just facts. The aricle is not arguing for or against anything But HN commenters get triggered by such reporting That's a red flag, IMHO