Why it issues: Working knowledge facilities requires loads of vitality, and the big quantity of water used to chill them is a rising environmental concern. Because the growth of AI knowledge facilities exacerbates the issue, tech giants are looking for methods to mitigate their environmental and local weather footprint. Microsoft believes that recycled water holds the important thing.
Microsoft’s newest knowledge facilities will make use of a brand new cooling system that does not draw water from the encircling atmosphere. The design goals to deal with environmental issues because the AI growth drives knowledge heart building.
Though the corporate calls its new design a “zero-water” system, it nonetheless makes use of water to chill its servers. Not like conventional knowledge facilities that divert and evaporate billions of gallons per yr, Microsoft’s new system recycles its water between servers and chillers in a closed loop that requires no new water following preliminary building. Like every regular constructing, solely the kitchens and restrooms require exterior water.
The corporate plans to proceed utilizing older air-cooled and water-cooled services with conventional cooling programs however is regularly working to cut back its water utilization. Since 2021, the whole water consumption from Microsoft’s knowledge facilities has fallen 39 p.c from 0.49 to 0.3 liters per kilowatt hour.
Nevertheless, the brand new system, which the corporate plans to make use of for all its future knowledge facilities, reduces that quantity to just about zero. New services will start using it in Phoenix, Arizona, and Mt. Nice, Wisconsin in 2026, and extra in different areas are deliberate for 2027. Microsoft estimates that every knowledge heart utilizing the brand new design may save over 125 million liters of water yearly.
The first downside is elevated vitality utilization, however new chip-level cooling strategies that allow larger working temperatures may reasonable the influence.
A number of teams are proposing different strategies of enhancing server cooling to attenuate water consumption. A current examine from the College of Texas describes a mechanochemically engineered alloy that considerably improves liquid metallic cooling. Moreover, the US Division of Commerce just lately promised tens of millions in CHIPS Act funds to an Oakland firm that proposed integrating diamond – a superior thermal conductor – into semiconductors.
Nevertheless, essentially the most formidable plan for effectively working knowledge facilities is perhaps to launch them into orbit. Based on a European enterprise, working knowledge facilities in area would take away the requirement for water cooling and allow them to make use of limitless photo voltaic vitality.