SELLEST OSAST
In this episode I talk to Dr. Eric Masanet. Eric is the Professor and Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science at the University of California Santa Barbara. The core focus of the episode is Data Centers. In the episode we start at a high level where Eric defines what a Data Center is, the stakeholders of a Data Center, GPU vs CPU compute, the lifecycle of chips, the potential energy efficiency gains of compute, Data Center water usage, the sparse data on Data Centers and the best and worst case scenarios for Data Center sustainability in the future. I hope you enjoy!
VIDEO: Eric’s Testimony to Congress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE0be5uqjuw
PAPERS:
Eric’s PhD Thesis on E-waste (paywalled behind ProQuest): https://www.proquest.com/docview/305213050
GPU Lifetimes on Titan Supercomputer: Survival Analysis and Reliability: https://christian-engelmann.de/publications/ostrouchov20gpu.pdf
With the Right Developer, Technological Progress Doesn’t Mean Data Center Obsolescence: https://www.streamdatacenters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/SDC-Brief-Data-Center-Obsolescence-20250416.pdf
How Hungry is AI? Benchmarking Energy, Water, and Carbon Footprint of
LLM Inference: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.095982024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report: https://eta.lbl.gov/publications/2024-lbnl-data-center-energy-usage-report
ARTICLES:
Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/waste-electrical-and-electronic-equipment-weee_en
Apple expands the use of recycled materials across its products: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/04/apple-expands-the-use-of-recycled-materials-across-its-products/
The 2025 Data Center Power Report by Bloom Energy: https://resources.bloomenergy.com/data-center-power-report
NEWS: Sanders: Yes. We Need a Moratorium On Data Center Construction.: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-yes-we-need-a-moratorium-on-data-center-construction/
Ratepayer Protection Pledge: https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/03/ratepayer-protection-pledge/
BOOKS:
Connections by James Burke: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743299558 CONNECT:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-dolinay-frm-96a289106/
GitHub: https://github.com/ad17171717 X: https://twitter.com/DolinayG
Odysee: https://odysee.com/@adriandolinay:0
Medium: https://medium.com/@adriandolinay
PODCAST:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-aspiring-stem-geek/id1765996824 Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/The-Aspiring-STEM-Geek/B0DC73S9SN
iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/202676097/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/60dPNJbDPaPw7ru8g5btxV
|-Video Chapters-|
0:00 – Intro
1:48 – Eric’s interesting in building things growing up
3:00 – Studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin Madison
4:34 – Eric’s PhD Thesis on minimizing Electronic Waste
14:55 – Defining a Data Center
18:06 – Stakeholders of a Data Center
21:59 – Central Processing Units (CPUs) vs Graphical Processing Units (GPUs)
24:30 – Lifecycles of Computer Chips
30:58 – Will the energy consumption from a GPU query become as efficient as a Google Search over time?
37:15 – Are Data Centers making electricity more expensive?
42:34 – Data Center water usage
48:39 – How Data Center builders decide where to build
57:02 – Google’s Hamina Data Centers, an example of sustainable Data Center builds?
1:01:34 – Data collection on Data Centers
1:08:36 – The United States agency that could collect data on Data Centers in the future
1:10:59 – Could an industry group collect data on Data Centers?
1:14:51 – How hardware companies can provide more data on chips
1:18:09 – Best and worst case scenarios for Data Center sustainability
1:27:01 – What happens to Data Centers if there is an AI bubble that pops?
1:31:17 – Eric’s ideal Data Center policies
1:37:29 – Being outdoors in California
1:38:56 – Book recommendation
