Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE) is looking to an unusual source for energy: the area’s data centers.
Cloud-computing data centers produce a lot of waste heat, which is typically dissipated using (energy-consuming) cooling systems. The OSE wants to do things differently. The office proposes channeling the heat into a district energy system, where it would provide heat and water to two city neighborhoods.
The ambitious plan is still in its analysis phase, Theresa Everline writes. But once built, a district energy system would allow Seattle to recycle energy, including heat from data centers, that would otherwise go to waste.
FULL STORY: Seattle Turns to Tech's Wasted Heat as a Neighborhood Power Source
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research