#environmentalcosts — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #environmentalcosts, aggregated by home.social.
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#Kansas town is getting an underground #nuclear reactor [whether they like it or not!]
Story by Jessie Williams, July 29, 2026
"A pilot project to bury a #NuclearReactor one mile underneath a town in Kansas has split the opinion of local residents, with some fearing the #EnvironmentalImpacts while others hope it will create economic opportunities.
"The so-called #GravityReactor is being proposed by #DeepFission, a California-based start-up from a father-daughter duo, #LizMuller and #RichardMuller, emeritus professor of physics at University of California, and an inventor.
"It will be the first time a commercial nuclear reactor operates underground.
"The startup has raised around $150 million in the past year, with $40 million of that going to fund the work in #ParsonsKS, a rural town in Kansas with a population of 9,600.
"So far Deep Fission has drilled one test hole with a second due to be completed this year, and a full-scale prototype canister intended to test installation procedures.
"Their plan is to send the canister loaded with nuclear fuel into a third hole to heat water a mile underground and generate electricity on the surface in 2027 or 2028.
"But some people in Parsons are worried about the short time frame by industry standards and the impact on the #environment and their #WaterSupply.
"Each reactor would generate 15 megawatts of electricity from inside a 30-inch borehole, enough to power 12,000 homes. But Muller wants 100 or more reactors, providing more than a gigawatt – which would be enough for a #datacentre.
"The design relies on established pressurised water reactor technology, but with the reactor one mile underground, Deep Fission says it could remove some of the most expensive parts of conventional #NuclearPlants, as rock and water pressure could replace some costly #safety structures, such as #cooling and #containment.
"Nuclear only generates about a fifth of US electricity, but the Trump administration is seeking to kickstart a '#NuclearRenaissance,' aiming to quadruple America’s nuclear-power generation by 2050. It comes amid skyrocketing demand for electricity, mainly driven by data centres for AI."
#NoNukesForAI #AISucks #TrumpSucks #USPol #AIDatacenters #Datacenters #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #WaterIsLife #NuclearPowerPlant #SafetyStandards #EnvironmentalCosts
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The #EnvironmentalCost of #ArtificialIntelligence: #Carbon, #Water, and #LandFootprints
#AI’s rapid growth drives huge energy, water, and land use, raising environmental and equity challenges across its global infrastructure.
Date Published 3 Jun 2026
UNU-INWEH Report: Aczel, M., Chamanara, S., Matin, M., Farsi, A., Marwala, T., Madani, K. (2026).
"This report, Environmental Cost of Artificial Intelligence: Carbon, Water and Land Footprints, by the #UnitedNationsUniversity Institute for Water, Environment and Health ( #UNU - #INWEH ) on its 30th anniversary, examines one of the most underexplored consequences of AI’s rapid expansion: the environmental footprints of the energy required to power it. As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in economies, public services, research, communication, and everyday life, it depends on a growing physical infrastructure of #datacenters, advanced #chips, #CoolingSystems, #ElectricityGrids, #WaterResources, land, and #CriticalMineral supply chains. The report shows that AI is not only a digital technology, but also a material system with measurable #EnvironmentalCosts.
"The report moves beyond a carbon-only lens by quantifying the carbon, water, and land footprints associated with the electricity used to train, deploy, and operate AI systems at scale. Its central finding is that AI’s environmental costs depend not only on how much electricity is used, but also on where that electricity is generated and which energy sources power it. Every kilowatt-hour used by AI carries carbon, water, and land implications, and these footprints do not always move in the same direction: low-carbon electricity is not automatically low-water or low-land. The report also shows that AI’s footprint is shaped by both major infrastructure trends, including the rapid growth of data centers, and everyday use patterns, including model choice, output length, modality, and the growing use of text, image, and video generation.
"Importantly, the report frames AI’s environmental footprint as a governance and justice challenge, not only a technical problem. The benefits of AI often flow across borders and sectors, while the environmental burdens of data center siting, electricity demand, water withdrawals, #LandUse, MineralExtraction, and #EWaste can be concentrated in specific communities and regions. To address these risks, the report calls for a responsible AI ecosystem grounded in transparency, efficiency by design, equity and #EnvironmentalJustice, lifecycle responsibility, global cooperation, and sustainable use. By making AI’s carbon, water, and land footprints visible and comparable, the report provides a practical basis for integrating AI into energy, climate, water, and land-use planning, ensuring that innovation advances without shifting environmental costs onto vulnerable communities."
Download PDF:
https://unu.edu/inweh/collection/environmental-cost-of-AIs-Enrgy-Use-Carbon-water-and-land-footprints#AIBoom #Electricity #Hyperscale #BigTech #BigData #CarbonFootprint #EnvironmentalRacism #EnvironmentalDegradation #NoisePollution #LightPollution #WaterIsLife #AIAgents #BotTraffic #GreenSpaces #Farmland #Prairies #Woodland #TechGiants #ProtectNature #NoDatacenters #EnergyConsumption #USPol #WorldPol #Datacentres
#DatacenterMoratoriums -
AI can have a significant environmental cost. We should work on efficiency and ensure we don't let potential go to waste.
#AI #environmentalcosts
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/09/18/energy-ai-use-electricity-water-data-centers/ -
"Generative AI’s environmental costs are soaring — and mostly secret
Last month, #OpenAI chief executive Sam #Altman finally admitted what researchers have been saying for years — that the artificial intelligence (#AI) industry is heading for an #energy #crisis."
#DOI: 10.1038/d41586-024-00478-x
#aimastodon #Energieversorgung #sustainability #Wasserverbrauch #EnvironmentalCosts
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Can #AI be turned #green? Bring critical and empirically informed voices about the #environmentalcosts of #IT to the conversation on the 5th Oct, 3-4pm cest, advertised by https://mastodon.social/@dawnnafus/111132042424833670
#Environmental #STS @sts @stefanlaser @Aepasek #CriticalDataStudies
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Hey look here is $ 7 trillion for the global climate fund:
"The report by the International Monetary Fund (#IMF) found explicit #subsidies alone have more than doubled since the previous IMF assessment, rising from $500 billion in 2020 to $1.3 trillion in 2022.
IMF also calculates implicit #FossilFuelSubsidies, which include the cost of things such as undercharging for #EnvironmentalCosts. Adding those in and the total subsidies ballooned to $7 trillion in 2022."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-24/fossil-fuel-subsidies-hit-1-3-trillion-as-climate-change-worsens-imf-report -
Global News BC: Ongoing costs from Elephant Hill wildfire pegged at $1B a year: report https://globalnews.ca/news/9689139/elephant-hill-wildfire-environmental-costs/ #globalnews #britishcolumbia #news #elephanthillfirecosts #ElephantHillwildfire #environmnetaldamage #environmentalcosts #Indigenousreport #ElephantHill #Environment #BCwildfires #BCWildfire #Indigenous #Disaster #Wildfire #Weather #Fire