Mike Anderson often doubles as his own photographer, shooting and editing most of his stories. He came to KSL in April 2011 after working for several years at various broadcast news outlets.
SALT LAKE CITY — With dozens of questions lingering around how a 60-square-mile data center campus would operate, some scientists are raising concerns over what they see as likely detrimental impacts.
Dr. Ben Abbott, a professor of ecology at Brigham Young University, and executive director of Slow The Flow, said large amounts of heat that would be created to generate up to 9 gigawatts of power at maximum scale could change the climate and ecology of the surrounding area around Box Elder County's Hansel Valley.
"This could change the climate of the northern end of Utah, including Great Salt Lake," Abbott said. "There are always unintended consequences. If you look right around that valley, we have farmers, we have ranchers, we have wildlife we have Great Salt Lake. All of those would be impacted just by the thermal footprint of this operation.
"Abbott bases his concerns around calculations that Robert Davies, a professor of physics at Utah State University, said are based on basic laws of physics. In the production of energy, often more than half is wasted.
"So in order for the power plant to give the data center 9 gigawatts, it's going to have to actually generate or burn through 16 gigawatts or so," Davies explained. "So there's 7 or 8 gigawatts of waste heat from the power plant and then 9 gigawatts that gets used by the data center. All of that gets turned into heat and dumped into the valley. And that's very straightforward physics.
"O'Leary Digital, the company co-founded by Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, said power would be generated off-grid, from natural gas taken from a Nevada pipeline. And while O'Leary Digital has not released specific details on how that process would move forward, it said the power plant that would power the data center will produce only 5% of the emissions of typical gas-powered plants. The facility would also produce electricity, using little to no water.
At full buildout, some of the nearly 9 gigawatts of power would be sent into Utah's power grid. Davies does not see a way around the massive production of heat.
"All of that energy turns into heat, and then that heat needs to get dumped into the environment in some way," he said, adding that the heat island effect on that scale could raise temperatures by 8 degrees, shooting up more than 20 degrees during evening inversions. Related: Proposed mega data center draws concerns over 'heat island effect' Increases in temper
Traffic Weather Sports Classifieds Cars Jobs Homes Television Radio Salt Lake Utah Local Technology Environment Science Climate
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Murray power crew aids in electrifying homes on Navajo NationCurtis Booker is a reporter for KSL.
Read more »
Former East High football player dies West Jordan multi-vehicle crashCurtis Booker is a reporter for KSL.
Read more »
Lake Mountain School District acquires 100 acres for joint education campusLogan Stefanich is a reporter with KSL, covering southern Utah communities, education, business and tech news.
Read more »
Vineyard park listed for auction due to unpaid property taxesGarna Mejia is a reporter for KSL.
Read more »
Here's where BYU, Utah will open the NCAA men's golf regional roundKSL BYU and college sports reporter
Read more »
Utah's first teacher apprenticeship program opens in Salt Lake City School DistrictLogan Stefanich is a reporter with KSL, covering southern Utah communities, education, business and tech news.
Read more »