‘What Happens When Facebook Heats Your Home’
Morgan Meaker, writing for Wired:
Søren Freiesleben has lived in Odense his entire life. He likes
the historic Danish city for its size. It’s not too big — just
200,000 people live there — and he never feels like he’s drowning
in crowds. So far so normal. But there is something unusual about
Odense: Its homes are heated by the social giant Meta.
Since 2020, Meta’s hyperscale data center — spanning 50,000
square meters on an industrial estate on the edge of the city — has been pushing warm air generated by its servers into the
district heating network under Odense. That heat is then dispersed
through 100,000 households hooked up to the system, with Meta
providing enough heat to cover roughly 11,000.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade; when massive data centers generate heat, warm houses.
(Also via Dave Pell.)
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Morgan Meaker, writing for Wired:
Søren Freiesleben has lived in Odense his entire life. He likes
the historic Danish city for its size. It’s not too big — just
200,000 people live there — and he never feels like he’s drowning
in crowds. So far so normal. But there is something unusual about
Odense: Its homes are heated by the social giant Meta.
Since 2020, Meta’s hyperscale data center — spanning 50,000
square meters on an industrial estate on the edge of the city — has been pushing warm air generated by its servers into the
district heating network under Odense. That heat is then dispersed
through 100,000 households hooked up to the system, with Meta
providing enough heat to cover roughly 11,000.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade; when massive data centers generate heat, warm houses.