inariinari@piefed.zip
Aug 17, 2026, 6:13 AMThe Pollution Being Churned Out by AI Data Centers Is So Severe That It's Almost Incomprehensible
Replies
Arancello@aussie.zoneAug 17, 2026, 7:42 AMBillionaires trying to kill the rest of us faster.
- inariinari@piefed.zipAug 17, 2026, 7:44 AM
They don’t want us dead, they want us making money for them
OctavioOctavio@piefed.socialAug 17, 2026, 9:52 AMIf AI is so wonderful they could afford to put up solar panels to power the data centers.
- magnue@lemmy.worldAug 17, 2026, 12:59 PM
What happens at night?
- Sandbar_TrekkerSandbar_Trekker@piefed.zipAug 17, 2026, 1:55 PM
There are a few ways to store excess energy generated during the day. Usually batteries are the obvious answer.
One of the great things about batteries is that the metal used in them is recyclable and can be repurposed to make new batteries. So, at some point, we’ll barely need to be mining the metals used in those.
Compare that to petroleum products which, if not for green energy, would always needs to be extracting more and more to be able to satisfy an increasing demand of energy.
- JayciferJaycifer@piefed.socialAug 17, 2026, 2:10 PM
I’m gonna throw some numbers around based on a conversation with my friend the other day.
He works at an oil refinery nearby and under heavy load the whole facility can use up to 150MW of electricity. That’s while being rated as one of the least environmentally harmful refineries in the US. They have ~300 acres of solar panels supplying ~35MW over the course of a full day (~50MW during daylight hours). That means 20~25% of their power needs are fully renewable.
He also mentioned that the new Meta datacenter going up nearby is projected to use ~400MW! That’s two and a half oil refineries! That also means that to cover its electricity use they would need to set up ~2800 acres of solar panels. That’s ~11 times the footprint of the datacenter itself and two large farms worth of space on some of the best farmland in the country!
They definitely should be 100% powering the facility with renewables, but even then I don’t think model training justifies the space and resources that need to be invested to accomplish that.
e. hashman 🇵🇸ehashman@cloudisland.nzAug 17, 2026, 5:03 PM@Jaycifer solar farms are not exclusive with agricultural farms, though. Especially in areas with a high DLI (lots of sunlight most of the year) they are complimentary: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshpearce/2025/11/15/why-farmers-are-shielding-their-crops-with-solar-panels/
- JayciferJaycifer@piefed.socialAug 17, 2026, 5:50 PM
I didn’t state the State, but this is in Minnesota where 53% of the total land area is farmland. Generally speaking if land isn’t forested or inhabited it’s safe to assume it’s being farmed. This datacenter is being built by the oil refinery which is just outside the main metro area of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St Paul) where the farmland really picks up. Wind turbines could be an alternative, but since my friend said it was solar power set up by the refinery I’m assuming that would be the option the datacenter would use as well.
- e. hashman 🇵🇸ehashman@cloudisland.nzAug 17, 2026, 6:53 PM
@Jaycifer I am guessing you did not read the article I linked at all because there are substantial agrovoltaic installations in Minnesota already
- JayciferJaycifer@piefed.socialAug 17, 2026, 7:29 PM
I didn’t, and I’ll own that! I saw your definition of DLI, recalled the dark winters we get here, and assumed it would be about somewhere other than Minnesota! A second thought may have reminded me that growing crops the rest of the year does require a lot of sunlight.
That’s neat! Zooming in on the map I might have gone right by one while heading out camping this last weekend and assumed it was not for farming.
I don’t know that Meta is interested in getting into farming enough to make use of agrivoltaics for their datacenter, but it’s good to know that’s a potential option for farmers!
- e. hashman 🇵🇸ehashman@cloudisland.nzAug 17, 2026, 7:37 PM
@Jaycifer DLI stands for "daily light integral" and it's a farming term for how much solar energy is available. Funny enough, even though Minnesota has harsh winters, the year-round DLI is much higher than in the PNW, where even though we're at the same latitude, we have a lot more cloud cover. Anything below 10-15 usually requires supplemental lighting (e.g. in a greenhouse) https://www.canr.msu.edu/uploads/resources/pdfs/dli-maps.jpg
DavidM_yegDavidM_yeg@beige.partyAug 17, 2026, 3:06 PM“Worse yet, for residents, it’s already likely too late to do anything against the data center expansion.”
When regulation and democratic forces fail, concerted and ongoing direct action can be very effective 🤷♂️
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/pollution-ai-data-centers-severe
- betanumerus@lemmy.caAug 17, 2026, 4:15 PM
“But but but! If we’re going to solve pollution, we’ll need more of those AI data centres!”
1995ToyotaCorolla@lemmy.worldAug 17, 2026, 4:27 PMIt’s going to be so funny when they build their god AI and ask it to save us and it spits out “should’ve build solar panels 30 years ago”
- Soggy@lemmy.worldAug 17, 2026, 6:22 PM
The real Roko’s Basilisk is that it’s disappointed in you and thinks you wasted your life playing with computers.
Crystal_Fish_CavesCrystal_Fish_Caves@mstdn.partyAug 18, 2026, 1:25 AM@betanumerus @inari because AI will be so smart it will solve it. What if it doesnt? I heard the open ai prepubescent ceo say he had no idea how to make money for the monsterous debt he would ask ai when it is done. Holy shit they have no clue and dont really care like 5 year olds who have never faced a consequence.
- Crystal_Fish_CavesCrystal_Fish_Caves@mstdn.partyAug 18, 2026, 1:22 AM
@inari billionaires have their bunkers private islands sealed caverns escape plans probably a planet b so they dont give a shit they are leaving a husk uninhabitable planet. They will emerge from the devastation and laugh at all our corpses.
