Nvidia wants to cut data center water use, but that’s not the same as fixing AI’s water problem

英伟达希望减少数据中心用水量，但这并不等同于解决了人工智能的用水问题

Nvidia just announced a warm-water cooling system that it says can dramatically reduce the amount of water a data center uses — eliminating “pretty much all water usage” inside the data center, according to an Nvidia executive in a press release. “The water consumption challenge for data centers is largely solved,” Josh Parker, chief sustainability officer at Nvidia, recently told Axios. 英伟达刚刚发布了一套温水冷却系统，据称该系统可以大幅减少数据中心的用水量。英伟达的一位高管在新闻稿中表示，这几乎消除了数据中心内部“所有的用水需求”。英伟达首席可持续发展官乔什·帕克（Josh Parker）最近在接受 Axios 采访时称：“数据中心的用水挑战已基本解决。”

But that’s only part of the water story. As long as AI data centers run on fossil fuels — a choice tech companies are increasingly making — the savings stop at the data center’s walls. The core issue is how Nvidia measures data center water use. According to its blog post, the company essentially draws a line around the data center. Anything inside gets counted, and anything outside gets ignored. 但这只是用水问题的一部分。只要人工智能数据中心仍依赖化石燃料运行（科技公司正越来越多地做出这种选择），那么节水效果就仅限于数据中心围墙之内。核心问题在于英伟达如何衡量数据中心的用水量。根据其博客文章，该公司本质上是在数据中心周围划定了一条界限：内部的一切都被计入，而外部的一切则被忽略。

To be fair, Nvidia’s system does appear to deliver on its facility-level promise — the coolant runs in a closed loop, filled once and recirculated for the life of the facility, meaning no new water is consumed to cool the chips. In favorable climates, the company says, that can amount to a 100% reduction in on-site water use. TechCrunch has asked Nvidia to clarify the matter, and we’ll update this article if we receive a reply. 平心而论，英伟达的系统确实兑现了其在设施层面的承诺——冷却剂在闭环中运行，只需加注一次即可在设施的整个生命周期内循环使用，这意味着冷却芯片无需消耗新的水资源。该公司表示，在气候适宜的地区，这可以实现现场用水量 100% 的减少。TechCrunch 已要求英伟达对此事进行澄清，如果收到回复，我们将更新本文。

The problem is, water use outside of the data center — primarily in electricity generation and chip manufacturing — can double or triple the total water footprint of a facility. That means Nvidia’s solution addresses about a quarter to a third of AI data centers’ total water consumption. 问题在于，数据中心外部的用水量（主要用于发电和芯片制造）可能会使设施的总水足迹增加两到三倍。这意味着英伟达的解决方案仅解决了人工智能数据中心总用水量的四分之一到三分之一。

The new system is clever, pumping coolant into racks at 45°C (113°F). That’s hot for humans but not for computer chips. After passing through a server, the coolant emerges at 55°C (131°F), Nvidia said, bringing a significant amount of heat away from the hardware. At that temperature, the outside air in most climates can draw heat off passive radiators without evaporative cooling or, in some cases, fans. A data center without fans or chillers would not only use less water, but it would also be more efficient and quieter. 这套新系统非常巧妙，它将 45°C (113°F) 的冷却剂泵入机架。这对人类来说很热，但对计算机芯片而言并非如此。英伟达表示，冷却剂流经服务器后，温度升至 55°C (131°F)，从而带走了硬件产生的大量热量。在这一温度下，大多数气候条件下的外部空气无需蒸发冷却，甚至在某些情况下无需风扇，即可通过被动散热器散发热量。一个没有风扇或冷水机组的数据中心不仅用水更少，而且效率更高、噪音更小。

But no data center can operate without an electricity supply, and many types of power plants are themselves major water consumers. Fossil fuel power plants are one of the largest water users in the U.S., consuming 2.7 billion gallons per day, according to the U.S. Geological Survey — most of it for evaporative cooling. Natural gas power plants use 1.17 liters of water for every kilowatt-hour of electricity they generate, according to a recent study. Coal plants are even more water-intensive, using 2.2 liters per kilowatt-hour. 然而，没有电力供应，任何数据中心都无法运行，而许多类型的发电厂本身就是用水大户。根据美国地质调查局的数据，化石燃料发电厂是美国最大的用水户之一，每天消耗 27 亿加仑水，其中大部分用于蒸发冷却。最近的一项研究显示，天然气发电厂每产生一千瓦时的电力，就要消耗 1.17 升水。燃煤电厂的用水量更大，每千瓦时消耗 2.2 升水。

Fossil fuel power plants collectively generate about half of all data center power today, according to the IEA. Hydropower dams, which supply around 10% of data center power, don’t consume water in the same direct way, but evaporation from their reservoirs amounts to 6.8 liters lost per kilowatt-hour generated. Geothermal, a source that tech companies are starting to explore, varies widely — it can be higher or lower depending on the specific technology. Some enhanced geothermal startups, like Fervo, have pledged to use mostly “degraded” water that would otherwise go unused. 根据国际能源署（IEA）的数据，目前化石燃料发电厂合计提供了约一半的数据中心电力。水电大坝提供了约 10% 的数据中心电力，虽然它们不以同样直接的方式消耗水资源，但水库的蒸发量相当于每产生一千瓦时电力损失 6.8 升水。科技公司开始探索的地热能源情况各异——根据具体技术的不同，其用水量可能更高或更低。一些增强型地热初创公司（如 Fervo）已承诺主要使用原本会被闲置的“劣质”水。

Wind and solar power, on the other hand, use vanishingly small amounts of water, about 0.01 liters and 0.03 liters per kilowatt-hour, respectively — figures that include the water needed for manufacturing and cleaning solar panels. While renewables are providing a growing share of new electricity capacity, natural gas and coal are expected to provide more than 40% of new electricity needed to meet data center demand through 2030, the IEA projects. Without major changes to that trajectory, data centers will still consume large amounts of water, regardless of what Nvidia does inside its walls. 相比之下，风能和太阳能的用水量极少，每千瓦时分别仅需约 0.01 升和 0.03 升——这些数字还包括了制造和清洁太阳能电池板所需的水。尽管可再生能源在新增电力容量中的占比不断提高，但国际能源署预计，到 2030 年，天然气和煤炭仍将提供满足数据中心需求所需新增电力的 40% 以上。如果这一趋势不发生重大改变，无论英伟达在其围墙内做什么，数据中心仍将消耗大量水资源。