"Those data centers, they're just evaporating water into the air. They're different from normal, residential users. When we get the water from the utility, and then we discharge the water back to the sewage immediately, we are just withdrawing water—we're not consuming water. A data center takes the water from this utility, and they evaporate the water into the sky, into the atmosphere, where it may not return to the earth’s surface until a year later."

Shaolei Ren

https://www.wired.com/story/ai-energy-demands-water-impact-internet-hyper-consumption-era/

Using GPT-4 to generate 100 words consumes up to 3 bottles of water — AI data centers also raise power and water bills for nearby residents.

Net-zero emission goals went out the window with AI.

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/using-gpt-4-to-generate-100-words-consumes-up-to-3-bottles-of-water-ai-data-centers-also-raise-power-and-water-bills-for-nearby-residents

AI is an environmental crime of gigantic proportions. Big Tech are environmental criminals.

AI costs more than $10,000 in recurring annual costs — per user.

Gartner "anticipates that businesses will abandon around 30% of their generative AI projects after reaching proof of concept by the end of 2025 due to poor data quality, suboptimal risk controls and, most importantly, hazy business value coupled with high costs."

Deploying: $5 million to $20 million
Building custom models: $20 million
Further customizing: $6.5 million
Embedding APIs into apps: $1 million

https://www.campaignlive.com/article/third-businesses-will-abandon-gen-ai-projects-2026-report-finds/1883000

People: Help! Our home is on fire.

Tech bro: Here's a gallon of organic diesel.

People: What? That'll burn our home down even faster.

Tech bro: The burning of your home will help drive innovation in fire prevention technologies.

People: Our home will be burned at that stage.

Tech bro: Your home is immaterial. The innovation is required for the homes we will build on Mars.

People: But it's your home too!

Tech bro: ?

"A renewable energy company will soon begin clearing thousands of protected Joshua trees just outside this desert town, including many thought to be a century old, to make way for a sprawling solar project that will generate power for 180,000 homes in wealthier coastal neighborhoods."

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-05-31/solar-project-to-destroy-thousands-of-joshua-trees

Don't worry, it's just trees.

Weren't we supposed to be saving trees?

To save trees you have to kill trees.

After all, we can't have the Green Transition without Green Sacrifice Zones

It never makes sense, from a global warming point of view, to replace a notebook. This is because the market of notebooks is actually moving towards products with higher processing capacity, and therefore higher energy consumption. Existing ones should still be kept for 20 to 44 years for some sort of reasonable mitigation.

A 1-year lifetime extension of all notebooks in the EU would save 1.6 Mt CO2 per year by 2030, the equivalent of taking 870,000 cars off the roads.
https://eeb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Coolproducts-report.pdf

Keep digital devices for as long as possible

Hold on to your devices for as long as possible. It’s the single most important thing you can do to. Up to 80% of CO2 and other pollution is caused during the manufacture of a digital device.

We need smartphones that last 10 years.
We need laptops that last 20 years.

What you can do
1. Hold onto your digital device for as long as possible (at least five years).
2. Get your device repaired if it breaks.
3. Buy from a brand like Fairphone.