{"slug": "deserts-sea-water-the-ai-data-centre-problem-solved-seriously", "title": "Deserts, sea water, the AI data centre problem solved. Seriously", "summary": "A 2026 opinion piece proposes building AI data centres in deserts powered by solar panels and cooled by seawater piped from the ocean, arguing that rising sea levels and existing pipelines make the plan feasible and that costs could be offset by slightly increasing AI token prices. The article references the Guildford West pipehead and water supply canal in Sydney, Australia, and the East–West Crude Oil Pipeline in Saudi Arabia as examples of long-distance pipeline infrastructure.", "body_md": "## Deserts, sea water, the AI data centre problem solved. Seriously\n\n10 August 2026\n\nTech bros across the world have been giving everyone a right ear-bashing in the last few years about their AI agents, and the need for data centres to power them. And they’ve been crying foul in response to the environmental concerns many have expressed.\n\nTech bros worldwide are annoyed we don’t want to share our power and water supplies with them.\n\nThey’re unhappy we don’t want their data centres near the places we live, work, and send our kids to school. The tech bros are furious that we cannot seem to grasp the big picture. A prosperous and happy future of one-hundred percent dependence on their AI technologies is worth a few sacrifices.\n\nIs it not?\n\nCan’t we, the little people, cut back on our water and power consumption? Can’t we accept a little bit more climate change precipitated by water and power hungry data centres, is a small price to pay?\n\nWait up. Did I just say climate chnage? The phenomenon wreaking all sorts of havoc across the world, the driver of rising sea levels, temperatures, and unpredictable weather? Is not that sort of stuff the answer here? Not wild storms, and destructive bush fires.\n\nNo, I mean rising sea levels and warmer temperatures. Warmer temperatures must be the result of more sunlight getting through, right? That’s logical, isn’t it? Can you see what I’m getting at? You can’t be a much smart tech bro, if you don’t. That extra sunlight can be put to good use.\n\nSo people don’t want data centres near where they live. Fair enough. Who wants their golf club to make way for one? Not the tech bros. The solution is obvious. Build the data centres where no one lives. Like a desert. Ok, sure. But what about power? There’s no power infrastructure in the desert.\n\nNo problem. Build large solar panel arrays. No one lives in the desert, so no one will be around to complain about the solar panels. Ditto the data centres. But wouldn’t the cost of solar panel arrays be prohibitive? Sure, but again, no problem. Simply increase the price of AI tokens. Just slightly.\n\nThat solves the power problem. What about water? There’s gnenerally not much water in a desert. And, [depending who you listen to](https://theconversation.com/how-much-water-and-power-will-ai-data-centres-use-in-australia-ironically-we-dont-have-the-data-to-know-284069), AI data centres either use enormous quantities of water, or hardly any at all. Either way, people don’t want thirsty data centres guzzling any amount of water.\n\nWhat to do? The solution is obvious.\n\nPipe it in. End of story. That’s not really the end of the story, but anyone, even the little people, can surely see the logic. Sea levels are rising. That means there’s plenty of water at hand. But AI data centres in the desert may be hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres, from the ocean.\n\nNo problem, pipelines are still the answer. If something like the [Guildford West pipehead and water supply canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guildford_West_pipehead_and_water_supply_canal), in the west of Sydney, Australia, can be brought into being, the tech bros can do something similar out in the desert. Bonus points if gravity feeds alone can somehow be used.\n\nSure, the Guildford West system is only about sixteen kilometres total length. But if pipes can span sixteen kilometres, simple logic says they can go further. And don’t forget about the [East–West Pipeline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Crude_Oil_Pipeline) in Saudi Arabia, which is about twelve-hundred kilometres long.\n\nBut wouldn’t the cost of building massive pipe systems be prohibitive? Sure, but again, no problem. Simply increase the price of AI tokens. Just slightly.\n\nI think we’ve covered off everything.\n\nThe tech bros can have their data centres, and the rest of us won’t even know they exist. Plus one or two problems occasioned by global warming will be resolved. Well, maybe one. If you believe the ocean can be drained with a tea cup.\n\nOf course, I expect no one to take any of what I said the least bit seriously. Really I don’t. Particularly the tech bros who want to solve this very problem. Besides, they don’t read my website.\n\nBut perhaps I speak too soon. They might ask one of their AI agents about the feasibility of building data centres in the desert, in the manner I’ve prescribed. Then they might learn about this suggestion, since my website’s content is scraped all too often by their AI bots.\n\nCan I then expect the tech bros offer me any recompense? Anything at all. A single lousy AI token even? Yes, I’m quite certain that will happen. When hell freezes over.\n\nRELATED CONTENT\n\n[artificial intelligence](https://disassociated.com/tag/artificial-intelligence/), [climate change](https://disassociated.com/tag/climate-change/), [technology](https://disassociated.com/tag/technology/)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/deserts-sea-water-the-ai-data-centre-problem-solved-seriously", "canonical_source": "https://disassociated.com/deserts-sea-water-ai-data-centre-problem-solved-seriously/", "published_at": "2026-08-09 21:00:05+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-09 21:18:23.276215+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Guildford West pipehead and water supply canal", "East–West Crude Oil Pipeline"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/deserts-sea-water-the-ai-data-centre-problem-solved-seriously", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/deserts-sea-water-the-ai-data-centre-problem-solved-seriously.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/deserts-sea-water-the-ai-data-centre-problem-solved-seriously.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/deserts-sea-water-the-ai-data-centre-problem-solved-seriously.jsonld"}}