Tech Hokkaido data centre uses server-cooling snow to raise eels

[thomas]

This is pretty nifty: a data centre in Bibai, Hokkaido, cools its servers with snow and uses the melted snow to raise eels. The DC takes advantage of snow collected from streets to cut air-conditioning costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions while cooling servers and networking equipment that operate around the clock. The process increases the snowmelt's temperature to 33 degrees, so the warmed liquid can be used for growing eels.

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Around 1,700 elvers brought in by plane from Kobe were released into tanks at a facility of White Data Center (WDC) on Feb. 25. WDC plans to market the adult fish as “the first eel cultured in Hokkaido.” The company’s goal is to use as an energy source the heavy snowfalls that cause problems for Bibai residents every winter. It started the data center business in April last year, and construction of a large building will begin for full-scale operation in fiscal 2022.

Data center in Hokkaido uses server-cooling snow to raise eels | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

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