Crowded Hong Kong Is Planning To Build Datacenters Deep Inside Caves
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Companies have made data centers–those big warehouses full of servers–into creative, even beautiful, spaces before. But, short on available land, Hong Kong is looking into where to put new data centers, and they’re thinking caves might be the ticket.

It might not be as tough as you’d assume. In fact, as The Register points out, data centers in Norway and Kansas City have already made it happen. The land–er, the area underneath the land–could be purchased from whoever owns the above-ground area. The natural coolness of a cave could even help keep the data centers from overheating. The government has already selected five areas, with 20 hectares of land each, that might work for the data centers.

But there’s still some issues to get past. Toxic materials would have to be removed from the site before construction, and fresh air would need to be somehow allowed in. Even the director of the engineering consultancy firm involved with the project, Arup, says they’re a few years behind digging in and actually making this plan a reality.

The Register