Next-generation datacenters consume zero water for cooling

"Consume" water I interpret as requiring a constant stream of water. If little to no water is added, I'd agree it doesn't consume any, even though it uses water.

The water isn't being used for its enthalpy of vaporization, so there's a huge difference between that and using water to transport heat in a closed loop. It's pedantic to worry about the amount of water in the closed loop since it is only lost due to shutdown maintenance activities or leaks. Since the goal is for things to work more than 99% of the time this does not constitute a huge consumption. If you are using glycol there is further incentive not to waste glycol additive which is required to be mixed in at a rate proportional to the refill volume.

Thermophotovoltaics (TPV) and Thermoelectrics.

This is also a positive development in HPC sustainability:

"New HPE fanless cooling achieves a 90% reduction in cooling power consumption" (2024) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42106715

Also, in a linked post [0], it looks like this still uses water in a closed loop heat exchange system. It just won't evaporate for cooling.

[0] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2024/07...

To be clear, I still consider this laudable and hope to change our house to use a heat exchange eventually, rather than a furnace plus air conditioner pair, per Technology Connections' advisement [1].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J52mDjZzto 35 minutes