Using jet engines for power generation at AI centers.

14•testrun•3mo ago

From LinkedIn:

Data centers can’t get grid power for 7 years.

So they’re bolting old 747 engines to concrete instead.

This is infrastructure failure, not innovation.

ProEnergy has sold 21 repurposed jet engines to power data centers. 48 megawatts each. These are CF6-80C2 cores, retrofitted from airplane engines into stationary power plants.

They weren’t designed for continuous ground operation as primary power sources.

Think about what that means.

In Memphis, Elon Musk’s xAI ran 35 gas turbines in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Purpose-built turbines with emission controls. Nitrogen dioxide levels still jumped 79% near the facility. Cancer risk already 4x the national average went higher.

Residents found out through a press release. Noise hit 90 decibels. People put mattresses against windows.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7387850454958911488/

Comments

reverendjames•3mo ago

The only thing new here is running them continuously. They were typically on standby for peak shaving or to avoid rolling blackouts during high peak loads or unanticipated contingencies. I operate 15 "747 engines" to produce electricity. They were installed in 1995.

softwaredoug•3mo ago

The bubble can’t pop fast enough

journal•3mo ago

we're gonna cook ourselves to death with these tokens. if i was a billionaire i'd be enriching uranium under one of those data centers. if walter white could build a lab under a laundromat, a billionaire could figure out how to enrich uranium under a data center.

mikewarot•3mo ago

I wouldn't mess with enrichment, I'd just go for a breeder reactor, once you start producing pu that is much easier to separate and process into more fuel.

Just start with a big enough pile of natural tubealloy and keep taking away fuel as it builds activity. Experience has shown that disused athletic facilities should be sufficient.

What could possibly go wrong? ;-)

farseer•3mo ago

You can also build data centers in far off places, near dams or wind corridors. We are not at the level of desperation to start nuclear programs underground.

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