What are these guys smoking?
A couple of decades ago I remember sitting in a bar in Maine (US) with a good friend. We came up with a perfect plan. We'd work in the Corporate world for a while to save some money. Then we'd buy a car and drive to
Topic
Sustainability
A collection of 12 issues
Trough of Disillusionment
Is this Gartner encouraging the ‘Trough of Disillusionment‘ in their own AI hype cycle? Or just plain old common sense that it’s increasingly hard to ignore?
We’re in the brute force phase of AI when GPUs are neededGartner thinks generative AI is right for only five percent of
Big Tech Bullshit
No clever or witty commentary from me on this, it’s some kind of bullsh*t that this is allowed to happen and is taken advantage of:
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?Bloomberg
“Companies are buying credits called unbundled renewable energy certificates (RECs) that can make it seem that
Network effects?
I’d like to call this reading around the network effects, but the pseudo-science of economics has taken that phrase.
I’ve linked a chunky but interesting read from ‘Yale Climate Connections’ below. Interesting takes for the insurance industry and food industry. I’d like to read a similar analysis
We should be worried about the AMOC
Sustainability is not just about producing CSRs, or it shouldn’t be. It’s why I can get quite fervent about the impact of technology and solutions.
Looks like a second study has been released predicting the collapse of AMOC before the turn of the Century (2050 mean in this
Big Tech Carbon Neutral?
Amazon claims 100pc renewable energy target reached, seven years earlier than planned. That’s very good. Albeit with a teeny smidge of ‘Trust us’. Does matched = offset?
Amazon claims breakthrough with ‘100pc’ renewable energy target reached for data centresAmazon claims that it “matched” its operations’ entire electricity consumption with renewable
Sustainable increase?
The sustainability push is going well.
According to Microsoft’s 2023 Sustainability Report, emissions went up 29% and water usage 23%
Microsoft’s Emissions Spike 29% as AI Gobbles Up ResourcesAmid an explosion in AI, energy use and water consumption hit an all-time high in 2023 as Redmond’s data
Data centres need a lot of power
Hmm. So this is interesting reading as I was mulling this over earlier this week
The answer to AI’s energy needs could be blowing in the windCan offshore wind farms feed power-hungry AI data centers?The Verge
AI needs a lot of power so we use wind farms…simple.
Underwater Bitbarns
Fun fact: my Masters degree is in Marine Science. I once hand fed a shark, that was quite cool.
Undersea datacenter biz offers 90-day trialTesting platform for those ‘unfamiliar with the subsea environment’The RegisterDan Robinson
I’m fascinated by these underwater data centres. It’s been talked about for
Earth Day 2024
It was Earth Day yesterday. I have mixed feelings about it (Greenwashing). I’ve posted about the power consumption needs of Big Tech and the ‘next big thing’ but finally found an article on the water impact, which has gone under the radar somewhat.
The Secret Water Footprint of AI