Re: WSJ: Big tech firms seeking power

[David Lesher <wb8foz () nrk com>]

Speaking on Deep Background, the Press Secretary whispered:
> > who insist on perpetuating that most medieval of units... the BTU.
>
> Well, if you do away with that you can continue with the "mile" as well, 
> then lose the pounds and yards and gallons while you're at it.

Great! Let's get started...

> What is the amount of energy coming out of a server as heat as opposed to 
> what you put in as electricity? My guess would be pretty close to 100%, 

Actually, it's closer to 100.00%. Most is heat directly, but some
very small amount is mechanical work on the HD's, etc... and that
is then room heat as the drives radiate heat to the room.
The LED's emit photons that then heat the room, and so forth.

The only energy that 'escapes' the building would likely be
outgoing copper & glass data connections....but wait, there's
incoming of THOSE too. [But...  if a server farm, there's more
bits out than in...]

> In one of our data centers we use community cooling, we get 4 C (I think 
> it was approx 4 C) degree water and we're required to heat it at least by 
> 8 C before we return it, this is then used in the community power plant to 
> produce hot community water, and this process I've been told is quite 
> effective. Any thoughts on this? Guess it doesn't work in the boondocks 
> though...

> I guess none of this makes sense in the southern part of the US, but 
> further up north where houses actually need heating and not cooling most 
> of the year, are things like this done?

Almost never. In the immediate focus of the US it's cheaper to
import foreign oil/mine & burn coal than to invest capital to do
something more efficiently.

[Hmmm, I wonder what the current power price is in the
Niagara River Valley? Their cheap power was why so many steel
mills/aluminum smelters/etc located there eons ago. Plus, there's
copious H2O cooling and I have to think there are massive buildings
available in the area just for paying the back taxes...]

[This has drifted way OT and I'm out of here...]


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