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This is likely one of the worst written news stories I've ever read. On the other hand, it is one of the best efforts I've read to turn a news story into a hatchet piece.
The simple truth is that an army of gas turbine powered generators is never going to be an economically sustainable power source for an AI data center. And replacing it with an even bigger army of wind and solar power generators is laughable. The only option is nuclear power and Musk's installation of 35 gas turbine driven generators seems suspiciously like a back door strategy for fast tracking approvals for nuclear power for his AI computer data centers.
How could he replace the gas turbines with nuclear in a year? This makes me suspect that he has another business under construction somewhere - a factory to turn out modular nuclear power generators. Think about it.
America needs a fast tracked method of modular nuclear generation using thorium reactors. Instead of going through costly, time-consuming approval processes for each and every nuclear generator, it would be far more cost and time saving to approve a system with a one-size-fits-all installation. Contractors could then prepare sites using preapproved plans and then install thorium reactors shipped from factories where they are constructed under strict observation of government inspectors.
One more advantage to be considered: if each reactor is small enough, we could eliminate the need for a nationwide grid to distribute power (as well its attendant costs and vulnerabilities).
The simple truth is that an army of gas turbine powered generators is never going to be an economically sustainable power source for an AI data center. And replacing it with an even bigger army of wind and solar power generators is laughable. The only option is nuclear power and Musk's installation of 35 gas turbine driven generators seems suspiciously like a back door strategy for fast tracking approvals for nuclear power for his AI computer data centers.
How could he replace the gas turbines with nuclear in a year? This makes me suspect that he has another business under construction somewhere - a factory to turn out modular nuclear power generators. Think about it.
America needs a fast tracked method of modular nuclear generation using thorium reactors. Instead of going through costly, time-consuming approval processes for each and every nuclear generator, it would be far more cost and time saving to approve a system with a one-size-fits-all installation. Contractors could then prepare sites using preapproved plans and then install thorium reactors shipped from factories where they are constructed under strict observation of government inspectors.
One more advantage to be considered: if each reactor is small enough, we could eliminate the need for a nationwide grid to distribute power (as well its attendant costs and vulnerabilities).
Just a moment...
Posted from bizpacreview.comPosted in these groups: 
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Posted 6 mo ago
Responses: 3
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I'm not sure why you don't think the Combined Cycle Natural Gas isn't feasible. It is the cheapest and fastest to construct, it is the cheapest to run, especially in a state like West Virginiai with some major natural gas resources, plus environmental mitigation is minimal with natural gas. My local cooperative is building 745 megawatts worth of natural gas generation, one of the first is 12 generators that product 214 megawatts.
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CPT Jack Durish
Do you think that the residents' complaints are going to go away as the need for more power increases? Yes, the interjection of "race" was ridiculous, but can you really argue that natural gas turbines are a sustainable answer, better than nuclear power? I don't think that we are on the verge of running short of petroleum or natural gas anytime soon, but simply burning them to produce electricity is foolish at best. Those resources are needed to produce a host of vital products from fertilizer to plastics and are wasted when nuclear power generation is cheaper and more sustainable with little or not environmental harm.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
CPT Jack Durish - I don't think that Natural Gas is THE solution, but it is certainly the best interim solution until the Nuclear Generation actually gets started. I'm all for Small Scale MSR Reactors, but that industry is still in the development stage and it seems foolish not to use a technology that is available, works, has limited environmental problems and is Cheap.
Here in Kentucky, Natural Gas Generation is replacing all the aging coal fired plants because staying with coal has too many mitigation issues that make building new or upgrading old coal fired plants expensive. It does take care of most of the environmental issues, but it's not cheap to do it. Plus, Kentucky is a big natural gas producer.
Here in Kentucky, Natural Gas Generation is replacing all the aging coal fired plants because staying with coal has too many mitigation issues that make building new or upgrading old coal fired plants expensive. It does take care of most of the environmental issues, but it's not cheap to do it. Plus, Kentucky is a big natural gas producer.
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CPT Jack Durish
CPT Lawrence Cable - Of course, natural gas is the best interim solution. However, the small nuclear reactor won't ever become available if we don't begin even talking about it. Incidentally, many years ago (make that decades) I read of an innovation that pulverized coal to minute particles that could be handled almost like a fluid and would burn so completely as to greatly reduce emissions. Whatever, happened to that? BTW, when Adam and Eve were cavorting in Eden, I'm certain that my ancestors were mining coal somewhere beneath their feet. All my grandparents and theirs were coal miners. Slovaks from the Carpathian Mountains, Welsh and French, as was my father until he escaped the mines as a prizefighter. Thus, I have a hereditary reflex to their plight.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
CPT Jack Durish - The disadvantage of Coal is still the cost of making it burn clean, while Natural Gas doesn't require preparation or mitigation to use. I agree that it should be the interim solution to nuclear, especially small scale nuclear.
I'm not convinced that fusion is a viable solution in the foreseeable future. The real issue is the Kopeck Problem. That is simply stating that Fusion needs to produce energy for the price of a coke bottle (worth a Russian Kopeck). No one seems close to making an economically practical Fusion Reactors.
I live in Kentucky, both parents and in-law's were from Eastern Kentucky. I've seen both sides of the Coal argument. Strip-mining left some pretty severe environmental damage and the history underground mining is just as ugly. Google "Matewan" and Battle of Blair Mountain"
I'm not convinced that fusion is a viable solution in the foreseeable future. The real issue is the Kopeck Problem. That is simply stating that Fusion needs to produce energy for the price of a coke bottle (worth a Russian Kopeck). No one seems close to making an economically practical Fusion Reactors.
I live in Kentucky, both parents and in-law's were from Eastern Kentucky. I've seen both sides of the Coal argument. Strip-mining left some pretty severe environmental damage and the history underground mining is just as ugly. Google "Matewan" and Battle of Blair Mountain"
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States are rolling out red carpets for data centers. But some lawmakers are pushing back
The explosive growth of the data centers needed to power America’s fast-rising demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing has spurred states to dangle incentives in hopes of landing an economic bonanza.
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CPT Jack Durish
This is a far better written article which surprises me since its source is APNews which has gone very political in recent years. Yes, there will be great job creation to support construction, but will fall greatly when that phase ends and a small crew of technicians can keep the center humming. Also, there is a great likelihood that many jobs will be lost as AI replaces many jobs. (Anyone working from home had best reconsider their career choices.) And there's a great possibility the need for talented programmers will diminish as AI begins programming itself. (In my experimentation with AI, I've already challenged it to write programs and it's a helluva lot faster than I ever was.)
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