What is 'heat waste'?

本站添加: 2026-06-05

[00:00:00]It is known as heat waste, the excess hot air that data centers push into the atmosphere and surrounding neighborhoods. And an ASU researcher says that there is an impact to power bills.

[00:00:12]>> 12 News journalist Joe Dana sat down with that researcher and tells us what we know so far and Joe also what we don't know.

[00:00:19]>> Yeah, he says, you know, they're still doing some research on this to get more details. The claim in this study though is that for the first time someone, you know, bothered to drive around the streets around data centers and just take stock of the air temperature. Now, in my extended interview with David Sailor of ASU's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Sailor says more research is needed, but he says data centers put off enough heat to force home ACs to run harder.

[00:00:46]>> Your report was just published in the Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities, Data Center Waste Heat as an emerging urban thermal hazard. We found >> measurable warming at least, you know, like five football fields downwind of the data centers.

[00:01:03]When we're talking about 1 or 2° Fahrenheit, you'd expect a, you know, several percent increase in your utility bill. For decades we've known that anthropogenic waste heat can warm neighborhoods, but uh that's from conventional sources that are that are typically relatively small, certainly compared to a data center, you know, tens of watts per square meter of heat intensity uh compared to thousands which come off of data centers. Typically, when we're talking about 1 or 2° Fahrenheit elevation in in air temperature, you'd expect a, you know, several percent increase in your utility bill. And so for an individual home, that may not be it might be on the order of tens of dollars.

[00:01:46]>> Wait, wait, tens of dollars per month or for the whole season?

[00:01:50]>> Per month for the, you know, for the season. You >> Okay, so you could actually see a difference of many dollars.

[00:01:57]>> Right. And in your bill in your monthly bill >> Yeah.

[00:02:00]>> because you're closer to a data center.

[00:02:02]>> Yeah.

[00:02:02]>> As viewers look at these images, what does it tell you more than anything?

[00:02:06]>> Every little dot that you see and you can kind of see that they're individual dots is an air temperature reading. So, we sample we typically sample every one or two seconds we're measuring air temperature as we drive. These yellow dots are among the hottest and and the bluish ones are among the coolest. And what you very consistently see, you see the arrows pointing in the wind direction and very consistently downwind there's a warming effect. I mean, have we underestimated how far away they should be and because it sounds like it may be too late for a lot of us.

[00:02:43]>> Um I mean, in some instances, yes.

[00:02:45]They're not directly involved in providing electricity to the the customers downwind. They have nothing to gain or lose.

[00:02:55]>> We have started talking with data centers themselves and with the utilities.

[00:03:00]>> And they do not seem to be trying to hide anything. In fact, they're interested in this story.

[00:03:08]>> Yeah, and he says they're interested in finding solutions. Sailor says the research gives cities and regulators guidance for future planning. For example, requiring more water features, green belts, and parks to alleviate the heat effect. I also asked Sailor about potential recourse for homeowners who live close to data centers. You can see his answer and more. Just watch my full interview with Sailor. This is on our streaming channel at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

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[00:03:35]You can also find it on YouTube after 7:30 on our 12 News [music] YouTube channel.

[00:03:41]>> Joe, thanks.