#Ireland embraced #DataCenters that the #AI boom needs. Now they’re consuming too much of its energy

By MATT O’BRIEN
December 19, 2024

CLONDALKIN, Ireland (AP) — "Dozens of massive data centers humming at the outskirts of #Dublin are consuming more electricity than all of the urban homes in Ireland and starting to wear out the warm welcome that brought them here.

"Now, a country that made itself a computing factory for #Amazon, #Google, #Meta, #Microsoft and #TikTok is wondering whether it was all worth it as tech giants look around the world to build even more data centers to fuel the next wave of #ArtificialIntelligence.

"Fears of #RollingBlackouts led Ireland’s grid operator to halt new data centers near Dublin until 2028. These huge buildings and their powerful computers last year consumed 21% of the nation’s electricity, according to official records. No other country has reported a higher burden to the International Energy Agency.

"Not only that, but Ireland is still heavily reliant on burning #FossilFuels to generate electricity, despite a growing number of wind farms sprouting across the countryside. Further data center expansion threatens Ireland’s goals to sharply cut planet-warming emissions.

"Ireland is a 'microcosm of what many countries could be facing over the next decade, particularly with the growth of AI,' said energy researcher Paul Deane of University College Cork."

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#NoNukesForAI #Cryptocurrency #BigTech

Economical Druthers

A local volunteer community encourages people to donate knitted or crocheted squares that can be made into blankets. Those blankets are then given to people who need them, often to people in shelters and temporary housing.

As someone who likes to crochet while watching TV, I saw this as a beneficial use of both my time and miscellaneous leftover yarn. Accordingly, last winter I donated a couple of blankets I had made and I also put together squares that others had made.

This winter I happened upon some very inexpensive yarn at a thrift store and used it to make squares that I hoped would one day become a blanket. I also used up my remaining supply of leftover yarn and these together created 68 squares.

As I looked at the instructions I had received from the volunteer group, I realized I didn’t have enough squares for a queen-size blanket which was their preference. A queen size requires 90 eight-inch squares and a twin size requires 54. When I first asked about this, my assumption was that they would need more twin-size blankets but it seems that there are more families in need than single individuals. So, the polite suggestion was that the larger blanket would be of more use.

My dilemma, then, was what to do with my inadequate supply of squares. Should I make more squares or donate what I had? I decided to donate what I had, but when I got to the volunteer centre I was told that they no longer accepted donations of squares! They already had lots of squares in storage and, instead, needed volunteers to put squares together. I said I would be happy to do that and they said they would be in touch when they had taken a batch out of the storage facility. They also said that they no longer had a supply of yarn that they could give me; the yarn fund had been exhausted.

My 68 squares, which were not quite enough for a blanket, still needed additional squares so I visited a couple of local thrift stores to see if they had any yarn I could use to finish the project. Unfortunately, I was surprised to find that the price of the donated skeins was quite high. It was too high to be a bargain and almost as much as I would pay for yarn on sale at a local department store. I was torn. I wanted to finish the blanket and I wanted to support the thrift store, but I didn’t want to pay so much for miscellaneous yarn. I would rather pay a little more and choose the texture, weight, and colour than I preferred.

I went online to find out the sale prices for yarn at the local craft stores and I also checked out Amazon. My preference is to shop local when possible, but when you are trying to put together a blanket out of leftover yarn, you lean towards the least expensive option. I ended up ordering from Amazon, even though I would much rather have bought from a local charity or craft store.

Sometimes, your druthers are just not economical.

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