> A Google spokesperson said: “We’ve engaged extensively with local authorities, community members and local leadership to share the project details and follow the regulatory process to secure all the necessary permits.”
> The spokesperson added: “Once built, the datacentre will operate within the standards approved by the local authorities, and it will be part of Google’s longstanding commitment to sustainability across areas such as accelerating the transition to a net zero future and innovating to run the most efficient infrastructure.”
> Google’s greenhouse gas emissions have surged 48 percent in the past five years due to the expansion of its data centers that underpin artificial intelligence systems, leaving its commitment to get to “net zero” by 2030 in doubt.
> Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt said the company remained committed to the 2030 target but stressed the “extremely ambitious” nature of the goal.
> We’ve engaged extensively with local authorities
Translation: We've lobbied them, threatened them, or bribed them.
> follow the regulatory process to secure all the necessary permits.
Note: Not secure a low-to-zero rate of carbon emissions, but rather secure permits.
> company remained committed to the 2030 target
Translation: Before 2030, we are committed to something you can only check us on in 2030. In 2030 we'll forget about that commitment, rephrase it, or just refuse to talk about it. Or we'll have some really good excuse.
Building a datacenter in a tax-free zone within a country that produces up to 90% of its electricity from renewables seems like a jackpot for Google, considering their goal of lowering their carbon emissions. I don't really see how it benefits the people of Uruguay though, except for a few jobs? Maybe they'll invest in fiber?
Well uruguayan citizens will get lower latency/higher bandwidth (probably) access to Google services. The only datacenter in latam for google services is in Chile, and I've seen a lot of terrible routing in latam (often stuff goes via the US for intra latam traffic).
I'm assuming this is for core google services rather than being a GCP region btw. If it is also enabled for GCP then you get data residency benefits too rather than having to store your data in Brazil or Chile, which may have different data privacy rules.
It sounds like local efforts are using the lack of taxes being paid to be the reason for uproar. Low CO2e energy and no longer using water for cooling is a win.
I don't know how they got the air conditioning to 25T of CO2e / year but I have to assume thats based on an anticipated refrigerant leak (high CO2e equivalent).
I'm all for local sites getting benefits so they should get them though I bet whoever put the deal together is taking them for themselves.
I had a quick search and the top result for a datacenter in a mine is in Norway https://www.lefdalmine.com/ . I grew up next to a salt mine in the Alps, and those mines are really cold places. The mine is even, by the nature of the former mining, multi-story which most overground datacenters are not. Uruguay doesn't have mines, but I sure with some creativity they could use the heat produced by the data center for other industrial processes.
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[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 31.6 ms ] thread> The spokesperson added: “Once built, the datacentre will operate within the standards approved by the local authorities, and it will be part of Google’s longstanding commitment to sustainability across areas such as accelerating the transition to a net zero future and innovating to run the most efficient infrastructure.”
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/07/googles-greenhouse-g...
> Google’s greenhouse gas emissions have surged 48 percent in the past five years due to the expansion of its data centers that underpin artificial intelligence systems, leaving its commitment to get to “net zero” by 2030 in doubt.
> Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt said the company remained committed to the 2030 target but stressed the “extremely ambitious” nature of the goal.
Translation: We've lobbied them, threatened them, or bribed them.
> follow the regulatory process to secure all the necessary permits.
Note: Not secure a low-to-zero rate of carbon emissions, but rather secure permits.
> company remained committed to the 2030 target
Translation: Before 2030, we are committed to something you can only check us on in 2030. In 2030 we'll forget about that commitment, rephrase it, or just refuse to talk about it. Or we'll have some really good excuse.
https://wiki.uqm.stack.nl/Melnorme
I'm assuming this is for core google services rather than being a GCP region btw. If it is also enabled for GCP then you get data residency benefits too rather than having to store your data in Brazil or Chile, which may have different data privacy rules.
I don't know how they got the air conditioning to 25T of CO2e / year but I have to assume thats based on an anticipated refrigerant leak (high CO2e equivalent).
I'm all for local sites getting benefits so they should get them though I bet whoever put the deal together is taking them for themselves.