Full Transcript for Meta's Data Center Sustainability, Bitcoin Volatility, and Crypto Hedging Strategies

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,120 Welcome to Episode 99 of Bitcoin & AI Data Centers, the podcast where we dive into the 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:10,160 fascinating worlds of data centers, artificial intelligence, and everything Bitcoin and 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:10,660 crypto. 4 00:00:11,279 --> 00:00:15,235 I am your host, Roni, coming to you from a secret location in Wakanda. 5 00:00:16,175 --> 00:00:21,375 Today, we have some intriguing updates on Meta's data center electricity consumption and 6 00:00:21,375 --> 00:00:24,355 how it's ramping up its artificial intelligence capabilities. 7 00:00:25,614 --> 00:00:27,635 So, let's get right into it! 8 00:00:30,599 --> 00:00:36,439 Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has seen a significant increase in its data center 9 00:00:36,439 --> 00:00:45,375 electricity consumption, reaching a whopping 14,975,435 megawatt-hours in 2023. 10 00:00:46,475 --> 00:00:49,854 That's a 34 percent increase from the previous year. 11 00:00:50,395 --> 00:00:54,954 But what's even more striking is the electricity usage in its leased data center 12 00:00:54,954 --> 00:01:02,090 facilities, which saw a 97 percent jump year-over-year, hitting 2,187,020 13 00:01:02,090 --> 00:01:04,799 megawatt-hours. 14 00:01:04,799 --> 00:01:09,459 When we break it down, it's clear that Meta's data centers are real powerhouses. 15 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:16,795 Across the company's 16 owned facilities, the Prineville campus in Oregon was the biggest 16 00:01:16,795 --> 00:01:24,474 consumer of electricity, using 1,375,321 megawatt-hours. 17 00:01:24,474 --> 00:01:33,130 This was followed by the Altoona facility in Iowa at 1,243,306 megawatt-hours and the Sarpy 18 00:01:33,130 --> 00:01:39,944 data center in Nebraska at 1,148,091 megawatt-hours. 19 00:01:39,944 --> 00:01:46,424 Electricity intensity per monthly active user also grew to 0.0041 megawatt-hours, which is a 20 00:01:46,424 --> 00:01:47,645 32 percent increase. 21 00:01:48,265 --> 00:01:54,230 Similarly, electricity intensity per million United States Dollars in revenue increased to 22 00:01:54,230 --> 00:01:59,030 131.42, up 33 percent. 23 00:01:59,030 --> 00:02:03,829 According to Meta's latest sustainability report, all of this electricity is sourced from 24 00:02:03,829 --> 00:02:04,810 renewable energy. 25 00:02:05,444 --> 00:02:09,764 The company relies on power purchase agreements and renewable energy certificates to achieve 26 00:02:09,764 --> 00:02:10,264 this. 27 00:02:10,965 --> 00:02:16,025 The Power Usage Effectiveness, or PUE, remained steady at 1.08. 28 00:02:17,780 --> 00:02:21,480 On a positive note, Meta has managed to reduce its fuel consumption significantly. 29 00:02:21,939 --> 00:02:27,719 Natural gas usage fell by 36 percent to 4,818,116 therms. 30 00:02:28,420 --> 00:02:35,764 Diesel distillate fuel oil number 2 dropped 25.5 percent to 1,025,707 gallons, while 31 00:02:35,764 --> 00:02:42,025 distillate fuel oil number 4 fell 3.42 percent to 699,427 gallons. 32 00:02:42,805 --> 00:02:48,819 Gasoline usage saw a dramatic drop of 81.4 percent to just 22,309 gallons. 33 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,840 Additionally, Meta has started using hydrotreated vegetable oil at its site in 34 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,739 Clonee, Ireland, with an initial deployment of 1,144 gallons. 35 00:02:59,485 --> 00:03:05,324 The company is testing this diesel replacement through 2024 to see if it can transition the 36 00:03:05,324 --> 00:03:07,104 rest of its generators globally. 37 00:03:08,525 --> 00:03:13,344 Water consumption is another area where Meta has seen some changes. 38 00:03:13,950 --> 00:03:21,150 Data center water withdrawal increased to 3,881 megaliters, up seven percent. 39 00:03:21,150 --> 00:03:27,870 However, in locations like Altoona, Clonee, Odense, and Prineville, water usage actually 40 00:03:27,870 --> 00:03:28,275 dropped. 41 00:03:28,914 --> 00:03:35,314 On the flip side, water withdrawal from groundwater sources increased by 137 percent to 42 00:03:35,314 --> 00:03:36,375 88 megaliters. 43 00:03:37,555 --> 00:03:43,709 Water withdrawals from areas with high or extremely high baseline water stress also saw a 44 00:03:43,709 --> 00:03:48,509 20 percent increase, reaching 1,360 megaliters. 45 00:03:48,509 --> 00:03:55,889 Through its purchased electricity, Meta used an estimated embedded 55,475 megaliters of water, 46 00:03:56,110 --> 00:03:57,409 up 35 percent. 47 00:03:58,944 --> 00:04:00,805 But it's not all bad news. 48 00:04:01,264 --> 00:04:08,145 Meta's water restoration efforts have been impressive, reaching 5,889 megaliters, which is 49 00:04:08,145 --> 00:04:09,764 a 150 percent increase. 50 00:04:10,729 --> 00:04:17,870 The company's Water Usage Effectiveness, or WUE, fell to 0.18 from 0.20. 51 00:04:18,889 --> 00:04:26,355 However, water withdrawal per monthly active user increased seven percent to 0.001410 52 00:04:26,355 --> 00:04:31,835 liters, and water withdrawal per million United States Dollars in revenue also increased seven 53 00:04:31,835 --> 00:04:33,574 percent to 45 liters. 54 00:04:34,915 --> 00:04:39,574 Looking ahead, Meta is optimistic about its future sustainability efforts. 55 00:04:40,620 --> 00:04:46,699 'Our newest AI-optimized data centers currently under construction will feature dry-cooling 56 00:04:46,699 --> 00:04:49,759 technology,' the company said in its report. 57 00:04:50,620 --> 00:04:57,384 'Dry cooling uses air as the cooling medium, minimizing water usage, making it the most 58 00:04:57,384 --> 00:05:00,685 efficient cooling technology for these geographic locations.' 59 00:05:02,904 --> 00:05:08,939 Meta is aggressively building out its data center footprint, with capital expenditures 60 00:05:09,079 --> 00:05:13,419 hitting $8.5 billion in the last quarter alone. 61 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:20,779 The company expects costs to rise over the next year as it continues to develop its generative 62 00:05:20,919 --> 00:05:22,860 artificial