UK government suggests deleting files to save water
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How is deleting locally-stored files on your home PC going to save water, when your hardware sips resources vs. any AI datacenter in existence?
What are you, some kind of nerd?
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Most people save these thing in some sort of cloud storage solution.
No, most people do not store their files in a cloud storage solution.
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A small data center has been estimated to use upwards of 25 million liters of water per year if it relies on old-school cooling methods that allow water to evaporate.
So pass a law banning evaporative cooling systems from all industrial and commercial applications (or single out data centers), give them 6 months to comply and start handing out fines every day past the deadline.
straight up not feasible for many serious and necessary facilities like powerplants and refineries, unless you prefer very warm lake or river nearby (which also cools down by evaporation later)
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So where does this water go after evaporating or leaking from your toilet? Is it flying into deep space and being lost for our planet forever?
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No, most people do not store their files in a cloud storage solution.
I’m not sure that’s true any more. Microsoft all but forces you to use OneDrive by default these days.
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Nice analogy. I used this one in the past: "you can't fix a full disk by deleting word documents", but I like yours more
Always used to amaze me as a kid I had to pay 20p to inflate my bike tyre from, air.
Boggled my mind since I had a hand pump.
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straight up not feasible for many serious and necessary facilities like powerplants and refineries, unless you prefer very warm lake or river nearby (which also cools down by evaporation later)
Which is why I mentioned limiting it to data centers as an option
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So where does this water go after evaporating or leaking from your toilet? Is it flying into deep space and being lost for our planet forever?
Raining over the ocean where it is no longer in the stores of freshwater these systems are pulling from
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Yeah they do, it has absolutely become the norm and has been for several years. It may not be the norm among Lemmy users, but general public absolutely do use cloud storage for especially pictures.
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straight up not feasible for many serious and necessary facilities like powerplants and refineries, unless you prefer very warm lake or river nearby (which also cools down by evaporation later)
straight up not feasible
It's very feasible to create the law, collect the fine, and raise the price on energy sources or industrial process that require the cooling.
It's a formality, you could do it in an afternoon. Costs a bit of ink and a piece of paper.
"But then it gets more expensive!" and "This might push corporations out of the city/country." is the consequence the people / the government / the country have to have the balls to endure, if they want to stand by things like "having enough water" or "living on earth in the 22nd century".
If the free market is something you believe in, you should love this, because it makes water a more scarce resource and the market will be able to find another optimal solution to that new scarcity problem.
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Raining over the ocean where it is no longer in the stores of freshwater these systems are pulling from
So this doesn't sound like a big deal after all. Maybe just stop pulling water from those "stores of freshwater" for cooling purposes and get your own from the ocean.
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So this doesn't sound like a big deal after all. Maybe just stop pulling water from those "stores of freshwater" for cooling purposes and get your own from the ocean.
Corrosion issues, marine life clogging, too expensive, etcetc.
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straight up not feasible for many serious and necessary facilities like powerplants and refineries, unless you prefer very warm lake or river nearby (which also cools down by evaporation later)
They could heat many houses or fill many heat reservoirs instead.
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They could heat many houses or fill many heat reservoirs instead.
Depending on local climate, season and proximity to cities or industrial customers, this is often done, but you'll still have to dump lots of heat in the summer when space heating is off
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straight up not feasible
It's very feasible to create the law, collect the fine, and raise the price on energy sources or industrial process that require the cooling.
It's a formality, you could do it in an afternoon. Costs a bit of ink and a piece of paper.
"But then it gets more expensive!" and "This might push corporations out of the city/country." is the consequence the people / the government / the country have to have the balls to endure, if they want to stand by things like "having enough water" or "living on earth in the 22nd century".
If the free market is something you believe in, you should love this, because it makes water a more scarce resource and the market will be able to find another optimal solution to that new scarcity problem.
Show me how do you want to dissipate 10GWt inland without evaporative cooling towers, i'll wait
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Show me how do you want to dissipate 10GWt inland without evaporative cooling towers, i'll wait
Necessity is the mother of invention, life uh finds a way.
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Depending on local climate, season and proximity to cities or industrial customers, this is often done, but you'll still have to dump lots of heat in the summer when space heating is off
More heat reservoirs.
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Corrosion issues, marine life clogging, too expensive, etcetc.
Yeah, let them figure it out. It's their problem after all. If it's more expensive, then let them increase prices for their "data serving" activities. If it's too expensive for some people, they might reconsider their usage of said services which in turn might be equivalent of "deleting old files or emails". Instead of asking people deleting files right now before those in charge even tried to fix the problems they created.
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Yeah, let them figure it out. It's their problem after all. If it's more expensive, then let them increase prices for their "data serving" activities. If it's too expensive for some people, they might reconsider their usage of said services which in turn might be equivalent of "deleting old files or emails". Instead of asking people deleting files right now before those in charge even tried to fix the problems they created.
Ideally yes, but realistically, fuck the commoners, give money.
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Show me how do you want to dissipate 10GWt inland without evaporative cooling towers, i'll wait
If evaporative cooling is the only solution then the market will adjust to the new cost by moving power generation towards the coasts or just increase the price, if there are other solutions they’ll become the economically more viable. Either way more water is conserved and you can always balance the cost benefit by adjusting the fine/tax to find a good balance.
