[Leonard_of_Q]

Paper mills need a lot of heat energy to run the processes. Data centres produce a lot of heat. Sounds like a good combination?

Cold water -> data centre cooling loop - > warm water -> paper mill with heat pumps to transform low-grade heat into the required temperatures -> profit

[idiotsecant]

Data center cooling system output has miserably low extractable energy.

[bink]

I can't believe any town would vote for a paper mill. It smells like a paper mill.

[Leonard_of_Q]

Well, they do provide jobs and tend to stay around for a while given the large investments needed to establish one. There is a big one about 15 km from where I live, it smells about the same as a wastewater treatment plant. There was one close to where I lived while in university as well (another era, another country) which mostly smelled of warm paper, no bad smells. All in all there are worse industries to have around.