They're A Brilliant Idea, But A Herculean Challenge

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Domenico Vicinanza does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Data centres are the backbone of our digital infrastructure, supporting everything from social media platforms to online shopping and streaming services. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and the internet of things, the amount of data generated and processed daily is extremely large, and the demand for data centres is constantly growing.

Data centres, unfortunately, are massively energy hungry – among a host of other environmental drawbacks. One possible solution is to build them in space, and several companies are working on making this a reality. So how would this work, and is it really going to happen?

Yet data centres built for high-performance computing and AI require much more power than a standard facility. This generates a lot more heat, which entails a further substantial increase in power demands for liquid cooling facilities .

According to the International Energy Agency, data centres accounted for about 1 to 1.5% of global energy use in 2023 , and this figure is expected to rise significantly in the years ahead. Additionally, cooling systems can exacerbate water shortages in some regions, while the growing e-waste generated from outdated equipment is also a big problem.

To try and address the energy issue, data-centre firms have been investing in renewable energy sources like wind, solar and nuclear to reduce their carbon emissions . They're also using advanced cooling technologies to make their data centres more energy efficient.

Even so, it's still going to be a major challenge to roll out enough capacity. Data centres require substantial physical space and infrastructure, making expansion both difficult and costly.

It may sound like something from a sci-fi novel, but this concept has been gaining more attention as space technology has advanced and the need for sustainable and scalable data centres has become apparent.