Arabic version: مجموعات البحيرات العظمى تستعد لمخاطر مراكز البيانات تحت الماء

According to The Guardian, the Trump administration is considering plans for four sealed-pod underwater datacenters off Maine and Alaska, while environmental advocates around the Great Lakes are preparing for potential proposals in their region. No underwater datacenter projects have been proposed for the Great Lakes, and Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency says it has received no permit applications for Lake Erie.

Underwater facilities could appeal to technology companies because they may reduce cooling costs and avoid opposition associated with datacenters built in residential areas. Microsoft tested an underwater datacenter off northern Scotland beginning in 2018 and reported server failures were 87% lower after two years than for on-land equivalents. However, Microsoft said it has no plans to deploy an underwater datacenter anywhere and is focused on responsible land-based operations.

John Lipaj of the Ohio-based Lake Erie Foundation said heat, leaks and equipment failures are major concerns. Lake Erie already experiences harmful algal blooms linked partly to heat, and it is the warmest of the five Great Lakes during summer. Helena Volzer of the Alliance for the Great Lakes said even a rapid temperature increase of 2-5F can affect aquatic ecosystems, changing metabolism, reducing dissolved oxygen and disrupting food webs.

The Lake Erie Foundation has contacted state lawmakers in New York, Ohio and Michigan to urge regulations before developers submit proposals. In Conneaut, Ohio, residents voted on 3 November to prohibit large datacenters in the community. Mariana Branch, a Conneaut council member, said protecting the freshwater resource should be a priority. Any Great Lakes project could also face uncertainty from winter ice cover, after extensive freezing last winter affected nearly all of Lake Erie and up to half of the other lakes.