Tech companies’ use of Pfas gas at facilities may mean datacenters’ climate impact is worse than previously thought
Two kinds of cooling systems are used to prevent the semiconductors and other electronic equipment stored in datacenters from overheating. Water cooling systems require huge volumes of water, and chemicals like nitrates, disinfectants, azoles and other compounds are potentially added and discharged in the environment.
Many centers are now switching to a “two phase” system that uses f-gas as a refrigerant coolant that is run through copper tubing. In this scenario, f-gas is not intentionally released during use, though there may be leaks, and it must be disposed of at the end of its life.
The datacenter industry has claimed that f-gas that escapes is not a threat because, once in the air, it turns into a compound called Tfa. Tfa is considered a Pfas in most of the world, but not the US. Recent research has found it is more toxic than previously thought, and may impact reproductive systems similar to other Pfas.
Researchers in recent years have been alarmed by the ever-growing level of Tfa in the air, water, human blood and elsewhere in the environment. Meanwhile, some f-gases are potent greenhouse gases that can remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years. But f-gasses are lucrative for industry: about 60% of all Pfas manufactured from 2019 to 2022 were f-gas
I did some research and found the ultimate page that covers everything and has the actual data:
https://dgtlinfra.com/data-center-water-usage/
Looks like some data centers use a fuckton of water while others use very little. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have pledged to be “water positive” by 2030 (yeah, OK). What they really mean by that, though is that they’re just going to continue the usual path of replacing existing data centers with newer, more efficient ones in order to save money.
The places where it’s economical to allow all that water to evaporate must be shrinking of they’re all making the same pledge.
There’s not much in the way of data from modern (AI) data centers but you can be sure as shit they’re using the latest & greatest cooling tech because anything less would be too expensive.
I was surprised at just how much water is lost in closed loop systems! This is what I’m used to in my work: We fill enormous tanks and zillions of pipes with water and then just let it run. I’m not in charge of keeping the water topped off, though so I never really thought about it: We must have something letting new water into the system on the regular. Because even though it’s all closed loop, water still escapes!