Neal Kalita discusses obstacles facing data center construction in Europe, including erratic power availability and the need for renewable energy. The conversation explores the power impact of AI, energy usage of crypto mining, and the mindset shift in the data center industry towards sustainability. Also discussed are the importance of smart grids and regulations for sustainable infrastructures.

Tony Grayson of Compass Datacenters discusses the future of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in data centers and their role in sustainable energy. The podcast covers the evolution of nuclear power, comparing deaths and radiation levels from nuclear energy vs. fossil fuels, benefits and concerns surrounding nuclear data centers, safety measures and advancements in nuclear reactors, the move towards data-centric communities, zoning for nuclear plants, and the potential of small reactors in data centers.

Alex de Vries, an expert in energy use and AI from Digiconomist, discusses the rapid growth of AI's power consumption, comparing it to the trajectory of Bitcoin. The podcast explores the estimation of AI consumption through tracking GPU production. It also touches on the challenges of measuring power requirements, the dominance of NVIDIA chips in the AI market, and the potential environmental impact of discarded GPUs. The podcast emphasizes the energy-intensive nature of AI, questions feasibility, and suggests the need for regulatory considerations.

We talk to Bill Kleyman, now at machine learning company Neu.ro, about his lengthy data center career. How did he get into the sector, what did he learn at Switch, and how does he balance life and travel? Tune in to find out.

Max Schulze, Co-founder of SDIA, discusses the challenges of quantifying the economic benefits of data centers. They explore the positive impacts data centers have on local businesses, taxation issues faced by owners, and the need for a global organization in digital economics. The conversation highlights the absence of definitive conclusions regarding the economic impact and proposes a specialized economic model for the industry. It emphasizes the importance of considering non-monetary values when attracting data centers to municipalities.

Ever wondered about the practical challenges of connecting our continents? In this podcast episode, we talk with Exa Infrastructure's Elena Badiola about the process of getting subsea cables underwater: from environmental surveys to climate change, to funding challenges. Elena also shares her experience of living on a cable ship for five weeks after an earthquake caused an outage - and how a military coup almost stopped her from getting back home.

In 2022, Mark Monroe's podcast about hydrogen was one of our most popular podcasts ever. At Microsoft, Mark had just made a prototype hydrogen fuel cell UPS system that could potentially replace diesel generators to provide low-carbon backup power at data centers. One year on, he's back for some more detail. A hydrogen economy will need a distribution system - but will that look like a power network, a gas grid, or a system of trucks?  Data centers won't be the first big users of hydrogen: Mark tells us where it will take off.  This year, we've heard stories of natural hydrogen mined from underground. Mark assesses that prospect, along with the other sources of hydrogen, and suggests that the new energy source could rewrite the world's map of energy providers. Listen to our talk with Mark to find out where and when you will start using hydrogen. 

Hunter Vaughan and Nicole Starosielski discuss the complexity of sustainability language, reclaiming the term 'sustainability' and avoiding greenwashing. They explore shared environmental strategies and the role of Greenpeace in promoting sustainable practices. The evolution of sustainability reporting and accountability is examined, along with the role of language in driving environmental change.

If you think transitioning the tech sector to net zero is all about renewable energy and heat reuse, think again. Small changes in software could make entire data centers redundant - for a much bigger saving for the planet.  Green Software is not just about more efficient code, says Anne Currie. Rewriting everything in C might cut energy use - but it would destroy your company.   As a leader in the Green Software Foundation, and a seasoned green developer and entrepreneur, Anne has much better ideas. She is working with Sarah Hsu and Sara Bergman, on Building Green Software, an O'Reilly book about what green software really means, and how we can achieve it.  Find out more in this podcast.

How does the Internet keep running? A close-knit community of engineers has been developing and supporting the protocols that support it for more than forty years. During that time, new Internet services have emerged and scaled beyond recognition, and new features have been added, all without breaking the whole system.  Mirjam Kuhne has been closely involved with this for 20 years, and in 2020 became chair of the European forum for Internet development -  RIPE (Réseaux IP Européens, French for "European IP Networks").  Since then, Internet services have become crucial to the continued operation of society during the pandemic, and European Internet services have faced unprecedented technical and political challenges during the war in Ukraine.  Mirjam says the protocols take care of themselves. What you need is a community of motivated engineers to maintain them. RIPE is open to new members, and when you hear how it all works, why wouldn't you get involved?