Data centre debate heats up ahead of US midterms - here's what you need to know
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What's this about?
Data centres are the lifeblood of our digital world, but there are growing concerns about their environmental impact. The BBC explores their rise in charts.
The one-panel cartoon
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A large, dimly lit data center filled with towering server racks, with a prominently displayed digital screen showing real-time energy usage, highlighting the irony of powering servers with renewable energy.
Caption: 'Now 100% powered by clean energy. Still can't find your lost emails, though.'
Read the full 3-panel strip
Based on the original story on bbc.co.uk.
Editor's note
As data centres expand to meet our insatiable appetite for digital services, it's past time we acknowledge the elephant in the room: our love affair with the internet is poisoning the planet. While politicians dodge the issue ahead of the midterms, let's hope someone has the courage to challenge the tech industry's unchecked growth.
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Read the script
Panel 1
A large data centre room filled with towering server racks and humming machines. A technician in a hard hat and safety glasses is fixing a cable.
Technician: These servers never take a break. They're always streaming, always computing, always demanding more power.
Panel 2
A small, dimly lit boardroom. A group of executives around a table, each holding a cup of coffee and looking at a presentation on a screen showing environmental impact data.
CEO: The numbers don't lie. We're responsible for a significant chunk of global carbon emissions.
CFO: And the midterms are around the corner. We can't afford any bad press.
Tech VP: Maybe we can offset some of it with renewable energy, but it's not enough.
Panel 3
The same data centre room. The technician is now surrounded by a small forest of trees in pots and wind turbines on the server racks.
Technician: We're trying to go green, but these servers still need to run 24/7. It's like trying to power a city with a leaf blower.
Highlight: The absurdity of trying to make a massive, power-hungry data centre environmentally friendly with small-scale renewable solutions.
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