Our data centers now work harder when the sun shines and wind blows

Re:Our data centers now work harder when the sun shines and ... by floatrock on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @01:17PM (#22947886)

> Aluminum Foundries in particular are extremely power intensive and have been run during off-peak times (or are built in areas with cheap plentiful electricity like nearby hydro-electric dams).

Fun fact: this is a big reason why aerospace congregated in the pacific northwest during WWII (eg Boeing in Seattle).

Aluminum is key to aircraft because it's lightweight, and at the turn of the century the US went on a dam-building spree with a lot of hydro (ie large consistent baseload) being located in the pacific northwest.

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Re:Our data centers now work harder when the sun shines and ... by skummetmaelk on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @02:00PM (#22948357)

Another fun fact: in 2018 the US produced 890,000 tons of Aluminium. Iceland (population ~350,000) produced 870,000 tons.

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Re:Our data centers now work harder when the sun shines and ... by saagarjha on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @03:57PM (#22949546)

Is it Iceland’s insatiable desire to produce aluminum, or an abundance of geothermal energy?

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Re:Our data centers now work harder when the sun shines and ... by eisa01 on Thursday April 23, 2020 @07:19AM (#22954763)

It's hydropower ;)

Geothermal energy is mostly for district heating and hot water

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