AI is reshaping our world, but it comes at a cost: ever-larger data centres consuming vast amounts of energy and water while generating emissions and e-waste. In this episode of Raw Green, Francesco and Emma talk with Charlie Beharrell, Commercial Director at HEATA (https://www.heata.co), about why decentralisation matters.
HEATA’s model distributes compute power into homes, turning waste heat into free hot water and delivering major efficiency and cost gains. We discuss the challenges and upsides of decentralised cloud computing, the role of government collaboration, and how decentralised infrastructure could make AI more sustainable while providing a social benefit.
In this episode we unpack:
AI is driving unprecedented growth in data centre energy consumption.
Centralised data centres face limits: high energy and water demand, grid strain, and rising costs.
Decentralisation offers a way to improve efficiency and resilience.
HEATA captures waste heat from computing and provides free hot water for households.
Customers can save 20–40% on costs while improving sustainability.
Efficiency gains can exceed 100% by reusing waste heat.
Government collaboration is critical to scaling decentralised solutions.
E-waste and unit lifecycles must be managed to ensure long-term sustainability.
If you are interested in AI, data centres decentralisation and sustainability, this is your episode.
#DataCenters #AI #Decentralization #EnergyEfficiency #Sustainability #CloudComputing
Raw Green is produced and sponsored by OBE, a sustainability consultancy firm specialised in Life Cycle Assessment, research and green technologies.
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