Bread and Circuses on Nostr: Ouch. Probably not a headline you were hoping to see: "The Energy Transition Won’t ...
Ouch. Probably not a headline you were hoping to see:
"The Energy Transition Won’t Happen"
➡️ https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-energy-transition-wont-happen
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There’s a full-on race in the tech industry and in tech-centric investment communities to spend billions of dollars on new AI-infused infrastructures. The furious pace of expanding manufacturing to produce AI-capable silicon chips, and simultaneously building massive AI-infused datacenters, is shattering the illusion that a digital economy enables a decoupling of economic growth from rising energy use.
The challenge is not only the need for far more electricity than forecast a mere year or so ago, but also the need for it to be both inexpensive and available precisely when needed — and soon. New factories and new datacenters are coming online rapidly with many more coming in the next few years, not decades. There aren’t many ways to meet the velocity and scale of electric demand coming without a boom in building more natural-gas-fired power plants.
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The truth is the capitalist establishment was never really interested in making a transition to “green energy.” If they could do that and still make huge profits, as they did with fossil fuels, then okay, maybe.
But as soon as they could find other ways to keep raking in the money — like today’s huge boom in datacenters — they chose that, no matter the cost to our climate and environment.
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual
"The Energy Transition Won’t Happen"
➡️ https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-energy-transition-wont-happen
_____________________________
There’s a full-on race in the tech industry and in tech-centric investment communities to spend billions of dollars on new AI-infused infrastructures. The furious pace of expanding manufacturing to produce AI-capable silicon chips, and simultaneously building massive AI-infused datacenters, is shattering the illusion that a digital economy enables a decoupling of economic growth from rising energy use.
The challenge is not only the need for far more electricity than forecast a mere year or so ago, but also the need for it to be both inexpensive and available precisely when needed — and soon. New factories and new datacenters are coming online rapidly with many more coming in the next few years, not decades. There aren’t many ways to meet the velocity and scale of electric demand coming without a boom in building more natural-gas-fired power plants.
_____________________________
The truth is the capitalist establishment was never really interested in making a transition to “green energy.” If they could do that and still make huge profits, as they did with fossil fuels, then okay, maybe.
But as soon as they could find other ways to keep raking in the money — like today’s huge boom in datacenters — they chose that, no matter the cost to our climate and environment.
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual