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Comment by JonnieCache | Hacker News Reader

Who remembers google's patent from a couple of years ago for floating data centers? Using the sea to cool it was a big part of that idea, alongside tidal power. I'm kinda disappointed to see that this isn't the complete realisation of that stuff, but its still a move in the right direction.

Original patent link: http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Se...

I wonder if you could start a tropical reef around the outlets?

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If it's anything like power plants in the US, then there are restrictions on the allowed deltaT above ambient, and for good reason. For example in California, the San Onofre Nuclear plant was found to significantly impact the local fisheries by killing fish larvae and damaging kelp forests, and I believe the deltaT is less than 2 degrees C. (Though I'm not sure if this is at the heat exchanger or at the diffuser head). At Morro Bay (also in California) there is a power plant built long before such restrictions existed and it dumps cooling water straight into the surf zone. Apparently, intertidal species (muscles, snails, etc) can be found there that are typically found much further south. I can personally report that it makes the surfing much more pleasant, but the heated water is generally considered a form of pollution due to the negative impacts on native species.

The idea of theif floating data centers was well planned, and I'm assuming has not fallen completely off the table when factoring in their, already in place, shipping container server configurations.

This plant for water cooling has been in planning since 2009, at the time of purchase. So the flotilla of servers is entirely still possible. I would not be surprised to see it come out down the road.

ref: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10209580-92.html

There's this too: http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/7525207.html

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