We Need Electrical Abundance

 This piece is...whatever. At least it hints at skepticism of our Tech Bro Overlords actually solving this problem.

The issue is that computing centers gobble up a LOT of energy. And, since they use the same grid, that means that so much of our carbon neutral energy that we add is not making the necessary dent in our emissions. In fact, the piece mentions that in the Salt Lake City area, they are keeping open a coal-burning plant that was scheduled to close and there is a new data center that will use the same amount of energy that a large nuclear reactor produces.

The disparity between the greenwashed rhetoric of these tech companies and the actual impact on the power grid seems pretty large and significant to me. Even more, that Microsoft and others are looking at fusion, of all things, to solve their voracious need for electricity means that they are - effectively - not looking for feasible solutions to this problem. This is the "and then a miracle occurs" phase of long term planning.

The bum rush into an AI future has a LOT of problems, and the electrical needs are but one of them. What has to happen yesterday. The good news is...something happened yesterday! One of the big problems we have in decarbonizing our electricity needs is that regulations have made it all but impossible to build new reactors. New legislation has just helped with that. 

It was telling that the only two votes against the bill in the Senate came from Markey and Sanders. That's the old school anti-nuke shit lingering around. It's also interesting that - once again -  Biden was able to shepherd important legislation through a supposedly broken legislative body.

Any feasible solution to climate change that isn't based on wishful thinking would be building nuclear reactors in as many feasible places as possible. Frankly, I think every single sizable military base in the country should have a reactor run by the Corps of Engineers that sells energy at market prices. Help fund the base and produce power without the downsides of needing to cut corners to make a profit.

If we are going to have a future where the planet doesn't cook AND we enjoyed whatever benefits of an increasingly digital world, then we have to aggressively move to harness nuclear and geothermal power because we know that they work and we know how to build them.