0:00

From NASA sending astronauts to the moon

0:02

to billionaires launching themselves into space,

0:04

there's something about the cosmos that inspires

0:06

people to attempt the impossible. None of this

0:09

would be possible if it weren't for a group of engineers

0:11

who risked it all for the sake of blowing

0:13

stuff up. From LAS Studios,

0:16

listen to LA Made, Blood, Sweat & Rockets,

0:18

available now wherever you get your podcasts.

0:30

In my previous companies, people

0:32

always talked about sustainability and people always

0:35

talked about doing something that's

0:37

good for the community. But in Google, I

0:39

see actually a lot of people working on it.

0:41

In the management, there's a lot of attention for

0:44

sustainability. And it's not just talking,

0:46

but it's actually doing and investing.

0:53

This

0:53

is Where the Internet Lives, a show

0:55

about the unseen world of data centers. I'm

0:57

Stephanie Wong, and I'm your guide to the people

0:59

and places that make up the internet. This

1:01

season, we're exploring how data centers change

1:04

the world around them in surprising and transformative

1:06

ways.

1:12

My name is Inge van Ditsijzen. I'm one

1:14

of the facility managers in the

1:17

data center in Eemshaven, the Netherlands.

1:19

In 2016, Google opened a data center

1:22

in the Netherlands. In the years since, it

1:24

has expanded operations twice, investing

1:26

a total of 3.8 billion euros in

1:28

these Dutch data centers, the enabling infrastructure,

1:31

and sustainability measures. And hundreds

1:33

of people like Inge are running that infrastructure.

1:36

I always have a plan and it's always

1:39

my day always ends up being different

1:41

than what I've planned. That's, yeah,

1:44

that's what I like very much about my

1:46

job.

1:47

Inge was an engineer in the chemical industry

1:49

for 21 years, working in planning,

1:51

process engineering, and plant maintenance. And

1:54

when Google recruited her to help manage its growing

1:56

data center, she was excited to jump

1:58

from a mature industry

1:59

into a rapidly evolving one. Yeah,

2:02

the fact that it's growing a lot, that

2:05

there's a huge demand, and we

2:07

don't see the end at all. So

2:10

data centers are really quite new. So we're also

2:13

really still finding the best ways

2:16

to run data centers and to build data centers

2:18

and to design and construct. And that

2:20

constant quest to optimize data centers

2:23

played out with a resource that is central to the

2:25

Dutch experience, water. The

2:27

Netherlands has a unique

2:29

relationship with water

2:31

compared

2:34

to other European countries. A

2:36

third of the country lies below sea level. And

2:39

almost 20% of the mainland is water,

2:41

largely due to the 6,000 kilometers

2:43

of waterways that support industry and recreation.

2:46

There's like water everywhere. You

2:48

have waterways, you always cross

2:51

bridges, or you go through tunnels below

2:53

the water or over the water.

2:55

Continuous innovation has always played

2:57

a critical role in the Dutch relationship with

3:00

water. Those famous Dutch windmills, many

3:02

of them were built centuries ago to bring water

3:04

out of farmlands. Pumping and diverting

3:07

and blocking water is what protects the land

3:09

people live and work on, turning

3:11

the Netherlands into a vital European trading

3:13

hub and top agricultural exporter.

3:16

But now the experts of controlling water are

3:18

facing a new challenge, worsening

3:20

drought.

3:21

Yes, I remember that when I was little, for

3:23

example, we always had too much

3:25

water. So we regularly, we had

3:28

the cellar full of water and

3:30

we were always busy with pumps getting

3:32

it out. And I

3:34

think the last 10, 15 years, what

3:38

you also see is that there's actually a shortage

3:40

of water, especially in summer. Summer

3:42

heatwaves are getting longer and more extreme

3:44

in Europe. Winter snowpack is dwindling

3:47

in the mountains and the Netherlands is losing

3:49

critical fresh water resources while

3:51

it also battles rising sea levels. This

3:54

played out in the summer of 2022 when

3:56

extreme heat and drought disrupted shipping

3:58

and farming across the country.

3:59

There's not enough water coming

4:03

through the rivers, the river Rhine, the

4:05

river Maas, which are the big rivers coming from

4:07

the Alps, from the mountain ranges. And

4:10

there's just not enough water. So the

4:13

barges and the boats, they cannot transport

4:16

the amount of goods that they normally

4:18

would. So there was a big impact. Also,

4:22

agricultural sector had difficulties,

4:26

because they were not allowed at some point

4:28

to water their lands anymore, because

4:30

there was also

4:32

not enough drinking water or there was

4:34

just enough drinking water, which never was a problem

4:36

in previous times. But nowadays,

4:39

you see those impacts of climate change.

4:50

This created a water challenge for Google as well. When

4:53

the data center was designed, multiple options

4:55

for cooling were considered. Air cooling,

4:57

seawater and evaporative cooling. There

4:59

were always trade-offs. Air cooling using

5:01

chillers or seawater cooling using desalination

5:04

were both too energy intensive for this particular

5:07

location. So they settled on evaporative

5:09

cooling to minimize electricity use.

5:12

It's the most energy efficient way to

5:14

cool a data center.

5:15

But the area where the data center is located

5:18

only had potable water connections. So

5:21

at first, when Google started in Emshaven

5:24

in the north of the Netherlands, they started

5:28

using potable water for cooling. Google

5:31

always knew potable water would be temporary.

5:33

From the earliest days of Dutch data center

5:35

operations, the company started evaluating

5:38

more sustainable water sources to cool servers. And

5:40

as water challenges mounted in the Netherlands

5:43

and summer after summer brought increasing pressure

5:45

on supplies, those efforts were accelerated.

5:48

So that's when Google started to look

5:50

into other types of water that

5:53

can be used for cooling. For

5:55

example, there's other data centers that use

5:58

seawater for cooling. It

6:00

was chosen to use canal

6:02

water for cooling instead of potable

6:04

water. And then this huge

6:07

project was started with a

6:09

water company. So that company was Northwater,

6:12

which is a water treatment company that works with

6:14

a variety of heavy industries to reduce the

6:17

use of surface water. And then

6:19

Google and Northwater decided to use water from

6:21

a network of canals to cool the data center, right?

6:24

So how does that actually work? Yeah, the water

6:26

is taken in in a place called

6:30

Härmervolde. And that's like 40, 50 kilometers

6:33

from the data center. So it's more

6:36

in the direction of the city of Groningen. So

6:38

there it's taken from the canal

6:40

and there it is treated. So like filtered,

6:43

not too much metals in

6:45

the water, iron, irons, for

6:48

example. So those kinds of things

6:50

they do in that treatment facility.

6:52

And then they have huge pumps where

6:55

they pump it through this huge pipeline all

6:57

the way to Emshaven.

6:59

And then it comes in in

7:01

our water metering building, we call it. There

7:04

it enters the site

7:06

and then it is going to our cooling towers.

7:09

And then when they have cooled

7:12

the water for the DC floor, for

7:14

the data center floor where all the computers are

7:16

located, then part of the water is

7:18

flushed again out into the sea.

7:21

The 45 million euro project

7:23

was ambitious. It featured construction

7:26

of a 28 kilometer pipeline that can

7:28

carry 10 million cubic meters of water

7:30

each year to the data center. It also

7:33

required a new treatment plant to treat and

7:35

filter the water.

7:36

I think Northwater did a lot of work

7:38

on how they had to clean the water because

7:41

we kind of knew what kind of quality water

7:43

we needed for the cooling towers. But

7:45

then they had to find out like, hey, we

7:48

have this canal water. It has these kind of properties.

7:51

How can we

7:52

clean it and filter it and make

7:54

sure that it

7:56

falls within the specifications that Google

7:58

can actually use it? And that's it. Then Google

8:00

and Northwater needed to ensure that all the water

8:02

moving over many kilometers from the treatment

8:04

plant to the data center didn't get contaminated.

8:08

Another big challenge was the pipeline

8:10

because the pipeline is very, very long

8:13

and we didn't really exactly

8:15

knew what the properties would do when

8:18

transferred

8:20

through that pipeline.

8:21

So we did quite some testing to see

8:24

and to measure the quality at Northwater leaving

8:27

their sites and then retesting

8:30

the water again when it entered our sites

8:33

to see what the differences were.

8:34

The final challenge wasn't a technical one. It

8:37

was a logistical one. Getting the project

8:39

built required Google to work with multiple

8:41

entities in a highly collaborative way.

8:43

The really cool thing is that all these different

8:46

parties work together. That's a big

8:48

thing. It's not only the local companies, it's also

8:50

the government. And at

8:52

the same time, Google was also looking

8:54

into and talking to other companies

8:56

in the AIMS haven. I think that whole

8:59

stakeholder

8:59

part was really, really interesting

9:01

in this project and challenging, I think.

9:03

Google is taking these kinds of challenges

9:05

head on at data centers around the world. The

9:08

company has ambitious goals to replenish 120%

9:10

of the water it consumes in the next decade

9:14

while also getting 100% of its energy

9:17

from zero carbon sources. And

9:19

this project represents the collaborative creative

9:21

solutions being considered for each location.

9:23

Yeah, I think that the water

9:26

strategy is one of the biggest focus

9:28

areas at the moment for Google. And

9:30

if you can do that with industrial water or

9:32

sustainable water source, then it's

9:35

of course perfect.

9:38

The stakes are incredibly high. Climate

9:41

change is playing out in real time, making

9:44

extreme heat and drought far more likely

9:46

across Europe. It has direct consequences

9:48

for trade, agricultural production, heavy

9:51

industry and culture. And in a country

9:53

defined by its relationship with water, Inge

9:56

has witnessed those impacts in a very personal

9:58

way. For example, the Canadian

9:59

rarely frees over in the way that they used

10:02

to. Yeah, I think we all notice

10:04

it very much. The winters are

10:07

so bad because we used to have winters where

10:09

we could go ice skating on the canals.

10:12

We always had this huge ice skating race

10:14

called the El Stedentoch, the Elephant City Tour,

10:17

a beautiful race where

10:20

people skate 200 kilometers on ice. Well,

10:24

the last time they were able to do that

10:26

was 1997. So it's

10:28

now 25 years ago that that race was held.

10:33

And before that, it was like every 10 years

10:35

minimum.

10:36

So that's, well, I'm a fanatic ice skater.

10:39

So that's one of the things that really, that I see and

10:43

that I am a little bit sad

10:45

about, to be honest, that

10:48

we don't have those winters anymore

10:51

and the summers are dry. The Dutch are very

10:53

good at water engineering. But then the

10:55

threat of climate change

10:56

puts that skill to the test. So

11:00

do you worry about the future of your country? I think

11:02

at some point, we are really masters

11:04

at building dikes and mastering

11:07

the water and keeping the water out of the country.

11:09

But at some points, we cannot make

11:12

them higher

11:12

and higher and higher.

11:14

At some point, it stops, I think. And does working

11:17

on this challenge inside Google give

11:19

you optimism about the solutions at hand?

11:21

It gives me a little bit of relief because

11:24

I see there's actually companies that make

11:26

a difference and that do those little

11:29

changes

11:30

that we need all companies to do.

11:33

Google is not going to stop climate change, but

11:35

Google is at least

11:37

showing their best and being a very,

11:39

very good example for other companies.

11:47

Inge van Dijkheisen is a facilities manager

11:49

at Google's data center in the Netherlands. If

11:51

you want to learn more about the project in the Netherlands,

11:54

watch the short documentary video we made about

11:56

how it works. You can find the YouTube link in the

11:58

show notes. You'll also find...

11:59

a link in the show notes about Google's water replenishment

12:02

strategy. Where the Internet lives is produced

12:04

by PostScript Media in collaboration with Google.

12:07

Our theme music was written by Echo Finch. Additional

12:09

music came from Epidemic Sounds, Blue Dot

12:11

Sessions, and Echo Finch. You can subscribe

12:14

to the show on Google Podcasts, Spotify,

12:16

Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else you access your

12:18

shows. And please give us a rating if you like the

12:20

series. I'm Stephanie Wong, thank you for

12:22

listening.

12:28

I've been wondering something lately. Why

12:31

does it seem like once you become a billionaire,

12:34

when you're one of those disruptor CEO

12:36

Mavericks, the only thing

12:39

left to do to test your genius

12:41

is to build yourself a rocket

12:43

ship. I

12:50

speak for all of us here at SpaceX

12:52

when I say we could not be more excited

12:55

to finally be sending humans to the International

12:57

Space Station. There's Elon Musk.

12:59

I cannot emphasize this enough. We

13:01

must make life sustainably multiplanetary.

13:03

There's Jeff Bezos, who stepped down

13:06

as CEO of Amazon to focus on

13:08

Blue Origin, his rocket company,

13:10

and sent William Shatner to the edge of space,

13:13

not to mention

13:14

Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic.

13:17

So what is it with these guys? Why

13:20

the middle-aged pivot to rocketry?

13:23

I think there's something about outer space, the

13:25

cosmos, that inspires people

13:27

to attempt the impossible. But

13:29

here's what most people don't know. None

13:32

of this would have happened. No billionaires

13:35

launching themselves into the wild blue

13:37

yonder. No moon landing

13:40

either. If it weren't for a group of

13:42

men in Pasadena, California,

13:45

back in the 1930s,

13:47

they risked it all for the

13:49

sake of blowing shit up and changing

13:52

the world. They

13:58

would come to be known. as the

14:00

suicide squad. Allow

14:03

me to introduce them. Chen

14:05

Xuxian, the mathematician. And

14:08

he would come to the classroom. He would just, those

14:11

students obviously ask questions,

14:14

and Chen would say, I would suggest you

14:16

to drop off my class. That's it,

14:18

simple. Frank Molina,

14:21

the mastermind. I would say

14:23

it was kind of his dream, to

14:26

establish unmanned exploration

14:29

of space.

14:29

And lastly, Jack Parsons,

14:32

the one about whom I have reservations.

14:35

Parsons was perhaps the most, I

14:38

would say unusual one. Jack

14:40

always wanted to set off

14:42

rockets and explosions. He wanted to be out there

14:44

in the field and making things happen. That's

14:47

the crew. They were the perfect

14:50

storm.

14:57

In the 1930s, if you said you wanted to work

14:59

on rockets,

15:00

colleagues would ostracize

15:02

you. Financiers

15:04

would laugh in your face. And everyone

15:07

would assume you were going to accidentally

15:09

blow yourself up. Which was a fair assumption.

15:12

Frequent explosions at Caltech are actually

15:15

how this team earned its name, the

15:17

suicide squad. But

15:19

far from being a joke, the squad's

15:22

achievements were not the same. The squad's achievements

15:25

led to the founding of the Jet

15:27

Propulsion Laboratory in Southern

15:30

California,

15:30

which has landed rovers

15:32

on Mars. So

15:35

let me say this. If you think Branson

15:37

and Musk have earned their reputation

15:40

as eccentric wildcards, just

15:43

wait till you hear the suicide

15:45

squad story. There will

15:48

be satanic ceremonies and

15:50

some practices known as sex

15:53

magic.

15:53

Which is using sexual intercourse

15:56

and orgasm in rituals to

15:59

harness.

15:59

energy towards a specific goal.

16:03

There will also be historical figures who

16:05

get screwed over and unfairly

16:07

forgotten. Women have been a part of every

16:10

major milestone and every mundane task

16:12

in the history of aerospace, and

16:15

their stories are not often told or remembered.

16:18

There will be a corrosive and widespread

16:20

communist

16:21

scare. The then-director

16:23

of JPL, Louis Dunn, walked

16:25

into an FBI office and said,

16:27

I think this is a spy ring at

16:30

JPL.

16:30

And ultimately, there will

16:32

be a suspicious death. There

16:35

were actually two explosions, one right after another,

16:37

because it shook the city with shockwaves.

16:41

Test, airborne switch going on, light

16:43

on. Pressing command

16:45

to internal. 1, 2, 3, 1, 0.

16:58

Blood, Sweat and Rockets, the first

17:00

season of L.A. Made, a new

17:02

podcast coming soon from

17:05

LAist Studios.