Reputable sources report that datacenters release massive amounts of waste-heat, raising air temperature by up to 4°F and land-surface temperature as much as 16°F. This thermal pollution intensifies so-called ‘heat-islands,’ unfairly increasing energy-customer air-conditioning dependency and costs. Datacenter overheating also seriously harms wildlife and community health.
Issue Highlights
- Air-cooled datacenter systems release exhaust up to 25°F hotter than surrounding air, degrading environmental quality up to several miles away.
- Likewise, water-cooling datacenters can cause dangerous levels of heat in waterways, endangering fish and wildlife habitat as well as other critical aquatic and marine ecosystem functions.
- Higher outdoor temperatures increase energy and air-conditioning loads for homes and businesses, worsening energy demands and their costs to households.
- Concentrated heat discharge from datacenters impairs local wildlife habitat and migratory patterns, especially when nighttime temperature inversions occur.
- Although this exhaust could be captured using thermal energy networks to heat local buildings, high costs impede using such options. See report of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
- Overheating is already a major problem caused by climate change, which is only made worse by datacenters. The Centers for Disease Control report that “Heat-related deaths have surged over 50% in recent decades, while ozone and particle pollution drive thousands of excess hospital visits and early deaths.”
- Although added overheating damage caused by datacenters can be reduced by using clean energy to meet power demands, digital processing operations run hot, so, substantial thermal pollution by these facilities is inherent.
Recommendation
Due to well-substantiated risks to public health and the environment caused by datacenter thermal pollution, strict legal controls on the size, location, and overheating impacts of datacenters must be adopted by local governments and Georgia’s General Assembly.