[pixl97]

Eh, somewhat reductive thinking. Demand for renewables causes an increase in the build out of new renewables. Yea, it's not instant, but that's how markets work. Coal/fuel is expensive, so this drives demand for more wind solar, especially during high demand times that bring the highest power prices.

The problem with this essay is thinking power demand is bad. It is not when we can deploy massive amounts of renewables. Not only for AI, but for other industrial workloads that user power.

If the rest of the dipshits around here hadn't elected the dumbest mother fuckers on earth, we'd be pushing out subsidies to build out renewables at 10x the rate we are now. But hey, coal jobs matter.

[eesmith]

The text said "some instances". If you're next to a hydropower dam and are willing to pay for it, you can outbid others, who then switch to non-renewable sources. The dam can only put out so much energy. Ideally you'll switch to solar, but as various sources point out, it's not just adding solar power but also interconnect capacity, which is why a lot of data centers are using natural gas. Your "not instant" is many years, and longer than the timeframe these companies want to wait.

https://www.itpro.com/infrastructure/data-centres/gas-powere...

"Traditional hubs are at or near saturation, which has created long connection queues with waits of typically seven-to-ten years and in some cases 13-15. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that globally, nearly 20% of planned data center projects risk delay due to grid bottlenecks, and as a result developers are building ‘behind the meter’ primary generation. This offers speed to market in months rather than years.”"

"gas is mainly chosen because it’s the fastest and easiest way to generate your own power. Turbines and engines can be set up and begin providing reliable energy quickly, while renewable power generation can be intermittent without costly storage – and takes time and money to be set up."

https://www.greengasturbines.com/blog/gas-turbines-for-data-...

"Global data center electricity consumption is projected to more than double by 2030, driven primarily by AI training and inference workloads. The IEA estimates data centers could consume over 1,000 TWh annually by 2030 — roughly equal to Japan's total electricity consumption."

"Grid interconnection queues are now 4–7 years in many US markets, making behind-the-meter gas turbine generation the fastest path to powering new hyperscale campuses."

"Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have all signed gas turbine power agreements or acquired generation assets in 2024–2026, signalling a structural shift in how hyperscalers think about electricity procurement."

"The gas turbine data center trend is not temporary. Even as renewable procurement grows, the intermittency gap and the sheer scale of AI power demand mean firm, dispatchable generation will remain essential for Tier III and IV reliability standards."

[troupo]

> Eh, somewhat reductive thinking. Demand for renewables causes an increase in the build out of new renewables. Yea, it's not instant, but that's how markets work.

Funny how this line of thinking is indistinguishable from crypto.

> It is not when we can deploy massive amounts of renewables. Not only for AI, but for other industrial workloads that user power.

Funny how this line of thinking is indistinguishable from crypto. "Yes, we build a lot o power which is immediately consumed by us, but see how this is good? See? SEE?!"

> we'd be pushing out subsidies to build out renewables at 10x the rate we are now.

And these would be gobbled up by crypto and AI data centers, right?