Can AI data centres harness wasted heat as they guzzle energy?

Turning server heat into warmth

AI data centres place heavy demands on electricity supplies, while their processors generate intense heat around the clock. In Sonderborg, engineers have installed a system that circulates coolant over high-temperature chips to capture that heat.

The recovered warmth is directed into the town’s district heating network, serving 75,000 residents. A speaker described the result as hot water that could heat homes and support industrial processes.

Energy pressures and public concern

The article says data centres consume hundreds of billions of litres of water and add pressure to electrical grids. It also says their share of energy use will rise to 3 percent by 2030, with AI development driving an increasing proportion; the figure’s reference is not specified.

The spread of data centres has prompted opposition. In the Netherlands, police arrested protesters Friday over plans for a Microsoft facility near Amsterdam. In Texas, residents have criticized Elon Musk after he moved his AI and SpaceX operations there to benefit from tax breaks.

Recovery varies by region

The United States has about 4,000 data centres, more than any other country, and they draw 5 percent of its electricity. The article says little of their heat is recovered because there is nowhere for it to go.

Scandinavia has made greater use of captured heat, according to Rosenow. Meta’s facility in Odense recovers around 100 GWh annually, enough for 6,900 homes, while Stockholm has put data-centre heat into its network since 2014.

Hospitals also capture heat

At Sonderborg Hospital, engineers replaced two carbon-intensive gas boilers with a heat-pump system. It captures warmth from equipment such as MRI scanners and from temperature-control systems in operating theatres, wards and corridors.