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'There’s a way to reduce both the climate and water harms of data centres: Build them in places with lots of wind and solar energy.
....substantial amounts of water are used indirectly through the generation of electricity to run the facilities. Thermoelectric power plants, regardless of whether they use coal, gas, or nuclear material, use that fuel to generate heat that converts water into steam, which is then used to spin a turbine and generate electricity. And since hydroelectric plants typically store large volumes of water in reservoirs behind dams, there are losses there as well, as water continually evaporates from the surface of reservoirs.
All told, water use during power generation can be responsible for more than 70% of a data centre’s total consumption, according to the new Cornell research. “That’s why the electricity power grid mix is very critical,” said You.'
"Now is the time to ensure that data centre-related costs are borne by proponents and not passed on to consumers, but the window of opportunity in which these policies can be amended is closing. Decision-makers at city and provincial cabinet tables would be wise to tackle these issues before Canada finds itself repeating the mistakes of our southern neighbours.... As Canadians overwhelmingly identify rising living costs as a top national concern, the issue has already shaped high-profile elections in the United States, where household utility bills are soaring and data centres are at least partly to blame." | 
