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Discussion on: Let's talk about ecology in the tech industry

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sebbdk profile image
Sebastian Vargr

It’s an interesting topic, the only reasonable “answer” I have found is planting tree’s.

There are several companies that can be payed to replant forest areas etc. :)

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axelledrouge profile image
AxelleDRouge

Yes planting trees is one a the propositions. Like Ecosia. But I'm never sure about those solutions. Are the trees planted where they are need ? are they the right species ? But at least it is something.
Something that would be interesting would be to use the heat released by the data-center. Like to create greenhouses on them :)

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sebbdk profile image
Sebastian Vargr • Edited

I think those options have been investigated, the main issue is that making the nessesary equipment is not worth the gains afaik.

Planting trees is pretty forward tho, every kg tree grown is basically almost a kg of carbon removed from the atmosphere.

Plus, the eco system bonuses, I hardly think one can do anything wrong, besides uprooting them shortly after.

It’s kinda like the solar panel problem, they take a long time to even out in the carbon equation, and only have a set lifespan + the recycling difficulties of them.

Hence why I tend to prefer windmills because of their simplicity. :)

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AxelleDRouge

True the solar panel are not the best solution compared to windmills. But their worth and efficiency depend on their location. The question of the energy is always linked to the environment (is the place more windy, or has more sunshine, or is close to a river,...)

Planting trees is indeed pretty straightforward. Is it really able to compensate the energy consumed by datacenters ? I'm not sure.

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sebbdk profile image
Sebastian Vargr

Compensation would depend on the energy source I guess, nuclear, wind, solar salt boilers, or geothermal are all low carbon emission solutions relative to construction emission and operating emission to my knowledge.

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axelledrouge profile image
AxelleDRouge

Yes but electricity isn't easily transported. Therefore the sources must be close and in sufficient quantity. Apart from the nuclear (which open another can of worms) it would implies that the datacenter must need less energy, so they should be smaller

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sebbdk profile image
Sebastian Vargr

True, that could imply that one of the deciding factors for more environmental datacenters would be location, a data center next to a dam fx. could be quite large without drawbacks to my knowledge

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AxelleDRouge

Probably yes, depending on what a datacenter needs to work, maybe a study would be necessary to know the quantity of energy by quantity of data