You're assuming that the world is covered in server racks. I don't expect anything like that, even with significant increases in datacenter construction.
Let's assume 1kw per person. 10 billion people at peak population some time hence. So about 150 billion m^2^ to provide 1kw per person 24/7. The earth's surface area is 510.1 trillion m², of which about 1/3 is land. So we're probably just fine on renewables.
62 points ·
Nothing people do has zero impact. But pretty much everything else has a bigger one. Coal will utterly destroy the land, and the gases emitted after it burns will destroy far more.
Solar like this on a few percent of the land will supply all the electricity people need. So it looks huge, but is surprisingly low-impact compared with other options, or things like raising cattle
13 points ·
They mass imprisonment and cultural destruction is a more recent phenomenon. China first spent several decades bringing in colonists and executing those who complained too loudly.