Data center water and power fears overblown? Aluminum smelter uses a Boston-sized grid
csuwildcat · x · 2026-10-07
Amid US public opposition to nearby data centers (3 in 4 Americans), this thread counters the water and electricity anxiety with comparisons: a single new aluminum smelter uses as much electricity in a year as the entire city of Boston, and Americans use 18.5 billion gallons of water on coffee every day — versus about 17.4 billion gallons a year for all data centers.
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