Washington Post [no paywall]: “Pollution from generators at data centers could cause respiratory symptoms and deaths in the region, an analysis for The Washington Post found….Data centers — warehouses stuffed with powerful computers — are spreading across the United States to support tech industry visions of a gleaming future powered by artificial intelligence. Most come bundled with polluting technology from last century: diesel backup generators the size of semitrucks that have made sporadic smoke plumes a fact of life for many in Virginia. The state is home to roughly a quarter of the nation’s data centers. The 10,500 generators attached to data centers in Virginia produce enough pollution to harm public health even if used rarely, according to a new analysis of emissions permits for The Washington Post. Operating them for less than an hour per week, on average, creates the same public health impact as five power plants the size of the large Possum Point gas-fired power station near Quantico, according to the analysis by Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Washington. That’s enough to worsen lung and cardiovascular conditions for people in the region and cause at least three premature deaths each year, the analysis found, based on state air permits and reported emissions from the data center owners. The finding is based on state permits and company emissions filings through the end of 2024 for 132 data centers in Northern Virginia, where most of the facilities in the state are concentrated in an area around Ashburn known as data center alley. Nineteen new data centers, each typically equipped with dozens of the generators, have been approved in the region since, increasing the potential public health risks. Diesel exhaust contains nitrogen oxides, which help form smog, and fine particulate matter, including soot, which are linked to respiratory and heart disease. Data center generators in Virginia could trigger 14,000 episodes of asthma symptoms each year, according to a separate study from researchers at the University of California at Riverside and the California Institute of Technology that is undergoing peer review…”