Data centers create thousands of jobs for Malaysia but raise concerns

Data centers create thousands of jobs for Malaysia but raise concerns over power and water shortages

- Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Alibaba and others are building data centers there - Malaysia is building their capacity the fastest in the region - For H1 2024, the potential electricity demand amounted to 850 MW - For Johor, about 50 projects have been implemented in three years - The capacity of data centers there has already increased 100 times in five years - Data centers have created about 40,000 jobs for the country - Malaysia has long aspired to become a global IT center - 1.2 million people were employed in the country's digital economy in 2023 - The digital economy contributes about 25% of the country's total GDP - The GDP of the SEA region could generate $1 trillion from AI as early as 2030 - Malaysia is expected to account for more than a tenth of it. - Meanwhile, water and power outages can occur near data centers - Widespread water shortages could happen in as little as five years - Also due to climate change, aging infrastructure, etc. - Demand for energy from data centers will exceed 5 thousand MW by 2035 - This is almost a fifth of the installed capacity for Malaysia

China has launched the world's largest offshore solar power plant with a capacity of 1 GW

The plant is located 8 kilometers off the coast of Dongying, covers an area of more than 1,223 hectares and consists of 2,934 panels that will generate 1.78 billion kilowatt hours annually, enough to power 2.67 million homes. The plant is said to save more than 503,000 tons of coal per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.3 million tons

Magnetic Nanoparticles Could Be the Key to Fighting Microplastics

Brazilian scientists have developed a promising new method to tackle microplastic pollution using magnetic nanoparticles. By combining iron oxide nanoparticles with biological enzymes and adhesive polydopamine, they’ve created a material that can effectively remove microplastics from water. The nanoparticles, aided by polydopamine, cling to dissolved microplastics, while lipase enzymes break down

Data centers create thousands of jobs for Malaysia but raise concerns over power and water shortages

Recommended

China has launched the world's largest offshore solar power plant with a capacity of 1 GW

Magnetic Nanoparticles Could Be the Key to Fighting Microplastics