(my diaresis)
After reading the other recent data center thread, where floating data centers were also mentioned, it made me wonder.
If space-based data centers are too impractical, and floating Earth-bound data centers are still too impractical … yet data centers near population centers are ALSO problematic … what’s left?
There are places on earth where there’s plenty of moving water (e.g. major waterfalls, rapids, large rivers, and such) but fairly far away from where people live. While of course still far from perfect, and - yes - generally having serious local environmental effects**, would building data centers at/near sites like Angel Falls, Venezuela (assuming political cooperation) or the year-round white-water rivers in the US Pacific Northwest be the best of many sub-optimal options? At least more practical than floatind data centers, yes?
** Though one hopes this could be at least minimized through careful site selection and bleeding-edge near-term tech.