Dem
47
GOP
53
At the moment, there appears to be an irresistible force in American politics, namely the rise and spread of AI. There also appears to be an immovable object, namely voters' opposition to data centers, and the jobs they might supplant, and the electricity they consume, and the global warming they help cause.
We do not presume to know how this struggle will shake out. However, American politics has a long history of people finding solutions that make both sides somewhat happy (and both sides somewhat unhappy; such is the nature of compromise). This being the case, we thought we'd pass along a news story out of the U.K., where some Londoners seem to have found a way for the irresistible force and the immovable object to coexist.
The data center in question here is the Mopac Tower Data Centre, which is going to be constructed in Kensington, in West London. It is expected to handle all the data needs of the Metropolitan Police (probably known better to Americans, and to Sherlock Holmes fans, as "Scotland Yard"). While there will be some AI stuff, the greater demands are for the storage of data and the handling of telephone and radio communications.
Unlike some English-speaking nations that used to be ruled by King George III, the Brits take global warming seriously, and so the goal is for the data center to be net zero from day one, and eventually to be energy positive, meaning it will supply more energy than it uses. The way this will be accomplished, if everything goes according to plan, is to use the heat produced by the data center to provide heating (air and water) to 4,000 nearby residences.
This is a pretty massive engineering feat, and similar projects have run into technical and logistical problems. Still, considerable progress has been made when it comes to turning theory into reality. And perhaps the best indicator that this might just work is that of the £10 billion outlay that will be needed for the project, only £1.3 billion is public money. In other words, this isn't the government taking a moon shot, it's mostly private investors putting their money where their mouth is.
It's a pretty promising example of trying to find win-win solutions. One can only hope that certain other English-speaking countries that used to be ruled by King George III can get to the point that they too can get serious about trying to find win-win solutions to global warming, as opposed to having a major political faction where most members believe that global warming is a hoax, and therefore that all proposed solutions are fake news.
Have a good weekend, all! (Z)