Those are real concerns, but our engineering research finds that if designed, constructed, and operated carefully, data centers can actually help the communities that host them.
Data centers produce large amounts of heat, which must be removed from the computer chips. A data center gives off enough heat to potentially keep nearby buildings warm.
Many cities around the world already have what are called “district heating systems,” in which a group of buildings are connected with a pipe network and receive their heat from a central heat source.
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