construction

Aragón unlocks the construction of new Amazon data centers after months of previous work

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Aragon is one of the renewable batteries from Spain. That ability to generate energy has put it in the sights of Big Tech that want to establish themselves in Europe with a clear objective: create more data centers. The shark here is an Amazon that has been operating in the region for a few years, but for which the panorama has just opened to achieve what it has been pursuing for some time. Turn Aragon into the “Spanish Virginia”. In short. This is not a simple comparison, since the US state is one of those with the largest concentration of data centers in the world. In Aragon we are about to see something similar. Amazon, via AWShas been operating since November 2022 in the region with data centers in Zaragoza and Huesca. However, the fever for data centers is more recent and the American giant has been behind permits for some time to be able to build more. As they point from El Periódico de Aragón, after the authorizations that the project has been obtaining in the last two years, Amazon will be able to start building. This is an operation that, until now, had been limited to preparing the ground, but with the unblocking of the operation carried out this past Monday by the Government Council, Amazon will be able to begin building the facilities. Extension. This falls into the PIGAthe General Interest Plan of Aragon, will not be limited to the data centers planned in Villanueva de Gállego and Huesca. The idea is that AWS occupies about 800 hectares with around thirty data centers, 10 electrical substations and 12 buildings, and it is something that is being developed in parallel to the plan to deploy data centers in Walqa, San Mateo de Gállego and La Puebla de Híjar. Jobs and money. Landing these plans, during this year’s Mobile World Congress, the American giant advertisement that their plan is to invest 33.7 billion euros in Spain (at the MWC they stated that they were going to double their initial investment) to expand their data center infrastructure in Aragon between 2026 and 2035. The total investment will contribute 31.7 billion euros to Spain’s total GDP until 2035 and will be esteem that the employment impact will be 29,900 full-time employees. Focusing on Aragon, this operation is expected to contribute 18.5 billion to the region’s GDP and provide employment to 13,400 people. These employment calculations include those of local companies, direct, indirect and induced. It’s not that Amazon is going to create 30,000 jobs out of nowhere and long lasting. Energy. Here comes one of the most important questions: whether Aragon, no matter how much renewable energy it has, will be able to face the gluttony of data centers. Because these data centers, in different parts of the computing process, need energy spikes that we are already seeing how they are covered in other countries: gas, nuclear and… coal. In fact, just scaling AWS will add more than 10,800 GWh per year, more than all current electricity consumption of the community. There has been a lot of debate about the water consumed by data centers and, although the figure is not negligible, the energy cost is much higher. And that is where there is some confrontation between the local industry and Amazon’s plans, because there are those who they claim that the concentration of electrical consumption of AWS and green hydrogen macroplants will brake the development of more traditional renewables. Reviews. And then there is the rejection on environmental issues. More and more we see that there are municipalities that They don’t want to live next door of data centers and it is noted that one of the giant’s projects will be based on protected land. The speed at which permissions have been given to Amazon is also criticized. And, then, there are other issues such as the studies that are appearing little by little and that highlight both the acoustic and thermal pollution of these data centers. It is something that is being measured in various parts of the world and, precisely, in some Aragonese towns near centers of data an increase has been observed of 2°C in surface temperature. Not just Amazon. AWS is an example of the ambitious plans in the region, but they are not the only ones. The community is consolidating as one of the ‘lungs’ of hyperclimbers in Europeas well as one of the key regions of Spain for the expansion of data centers and European technological sovereignty Images | amazon In Xataka | The great paradox of Madrid: the region with the largest energy deficit in Spain is losing the data centers

construction profitability

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The construction sector is mired in an apparent contradiction in Spain. Although it puts homes on the market a much slower pace to which new homes are created, although the development companies have been warning for years against a serious residential deficit and although the value of the square meter does not stop climbing, fooling around Already with the values ​​prior to the great brick crisis, today brick is not a business especially attractive in Spain. At least if we look at its profitability. What has happened? That something doesn’t fit in the construction sector. The indicators of the cost per m2 they don’t stop increasingreal estate agencies warn that the apartments last just a few days in the market before finding a tenant or buyer and the developers warn of a growing housing deficit. And yet, despite all of the above, several analysis centers insist that construction in Spain has a serious profitability problem. It’s not just that your current indicators are far below of those that managed the sector two decades ago, before the brick crisis that sank the market, is that its values ​​are lower than those of other neighboring EU countries. In fact, despite the fact that the price of residential m2 continues to become more expensive, in reality brick is a business much less sexy than that offered by other sectors, such as air transport or information services. What does the data say? There are several sources that help us complete the ‘photography’ of the sector, as I remembered a few days ago The World. One of the most interesting is left by the University of the Hespérides, which in a recent report issues a warning to sailors: if new housing is barely being started in Spain despite the constant escalation of prices, it is due, in part, to the fact that “construction continues to be unprofitable.” Or at least not as much as other industries. After studying the sector, assessing the profitability of assets and the cost of financing liabilities, Hespérides technicians came to the conclusion that in 2024 the profitability of construction stood at -0.1% compared to the 2.7% average of all economic activities in Spain. In fact, it detected 68 economic activities more profitable than erecting buildings. Is it the only indicator? The truth is that no. A few weeks ago BBVA Research published another report about the real estate sector pointed in a similar direction: “The profitability of Spanish companies is lower than the European average in the main activities of the economy, although the differences are particularly pressing in construction.” Although in other sectors, such as hospitality, transportation or manufacturing, the ROE (return on equitythe profitability ratio most used by analysts) Spanish is lower than that of companies from countries such as Germany, France and Italy, this gap is especially pronounced when we talk about brick. “In 2024 the ROE of building construction was 4.1%, about 12.5 percentage points (pp) less than that registered by the sector in the historical average of France and Germany,” explains BBVA Research. Added to this is that in 2024 the profit margin of this activity in Spain was 1.3 pp lower than in 2000-2003. “Investment does not increase, largely because it is not profitable,” they warned in November Miguel Cardoso and Félix Lores, from the analysis center. And what is the reason? There are several. However, there is one that analysts frequently point out: the times that are managed in the sector, which lengthens promotions, slows down turnover and forces construction companies to bear the cost of high-cost land that only pays off in the long term. “Although margins have recovered, companies take years to build, maintaining assets (land) that do not generate income on their balance sheet, the report states signed by Cardoso and Lores. “They have to finance their purchase with their own resources, which puts the sector at a disadvantage compared to others.” Does it influence that much? Both experts warn that the procedures to be able to build on land are “long, expensive and often uncertain”, which has a direct impact on the financial costs borne by companies. These complications also make certain promotions less attractive to investors and financial institutions that can turn on the credit tap. “The consequence is an accumulation of land on the balance sheets of companies that do not generate value. These are idle assets that immobilize resources and reduce debt capacity,” they add. The National Construction Confederation (CNC) calculates that taxes, fees and urban planning charges usually represent about 30% of the sales price in new homes. This represents a handicap for both those who want to buy and those who sell and must decide the price and distribution of costs. How does that affect the sector? The analysis by Daniel Fernández, professor at the University of the Hespérides, speaks directly of an “artificial scarcity of land” due to restrictions at the urban planning level, which directly contributes to the increase in land prices and, ultimately, to construction costs. According to their calculations, in Spain only 2.1% of the land is available for short-term construction. 1.3% are in the medium term and 0.9% in the long term. The report also warns of the effect that the regulatory changes in recent years have had, especially since the revision of the Technical Code in 2020. Are there more factors? Yes. It’s not just that companies are slow to take advantage of the land. If the profitability of the sector in Spain is below that of other European countries, it is because their companies, in a certain way, are also different. Cardoso and Lords remember “the reduced size and atomization of the Spanish productive fabric”, which explains why they also have more difficulties when it comes to supporting large immobilized assets. In short: companies are smaller, so they have less muscle and resilience. Its characteristics also directly affect the ability to financial leveragethat is, going into debt to invest. According to their calculations (based on 2023 … Read more

We’ve found the secret ingredient for using desert sand in construction: sawdust and a giant sandwich maker

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At a time when humans do not stop building and erecting large buildings, there is a problem that should concern us more and more: there is a lack of sand to make concrete. But here anyone can laugh, since we have great deserts on the planet where there is a huge amount of sand that we could use without any problem. But it’s not that easy. The problem. Today, traditional concrete is quite exquisite, since river sand is necessary to achieve a good result. And it has to be that way, because the desert sand is too round and fine to be able to “stick” well. But the truth is that we were running out of this sand so necessary to continue building. In Xataka The rain has transformed the driest desert on the planet into a sea of ​​flowers. It’s a sight to behold and a problem for experts We have a solution. The University of Tokyo and the University of Norway they have hit the key to turn the tables, and the solution is not only to use the desert sand that a priori we have left over, but rather it is to mix it with plant waste to create a material that has received the name Botanical Sandcrete. The recipe. The recently published study details a process that deviates from traditional cement setting, using a hot-pressing technique instead. And for this you only need two ingredients: Fine desert sand which, as we have said before, is useless for conventional concrete due to its morphology. Wood particles and plant additives that act as organic “glue.” All this, together with a temperature of 180 ºC and high pressure, means that the wood components help create a solid matrix that traps the grains of sand and transforms them into a handful of powder in a block that has great mechanical properties. {“videoId”:”x7znesx”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Self-consumption building THIS IS HOW THEY WORK – Solar panels in apartment blocks”, “tag”:”solar”, “duration”:”564″} What is it for? Here we should not be happy to find an alternative to a problem that we already had on our heads, since we are not going to be able to build skyscrapers with these tomorrow. Here the researchers point out that the material, as it is right now, is a non-structural alternative.  In this way, its use is mainly focused on pavements, urban tiles and enclosure blocks or outdoor furniture. Things that are ultimately not pillars for large buildings, but do allow us to save river sand. Your advantage. Having an alternative, although it cannot be used in everything, allows us to drastically reduce dependence on quarries and the transportation of river sand. An action that results in the destruction of river ecosystems around the world by removing a fundamental element. In addition to all this, using wood waste and plant additives means that it has a much smaller potential carbon footprint than concrete based on classic cement. In Xataka 30 years ago the US was the country that dominated rare earths. This graph shows how China devastated at dizzying speed Its importance. To date, most attempts to use desert sand involved expensive chemical treatments or mixing them in very low percentages with conventional sand. But the focus of these researchers involves the use of biomass, making us a perfect example of a circular economy. And if we see the full context of the situation, we are taking advantage of a resource that is very abundant but a priori useless like desert sand, along with a byproduct of the logging industry. But logically it still remains to be seen how it behaves over time and how well it endures adverse conditions. Although a priori we are facing great news. Images | Keith Hardy rawpixel.com In Xataka | A 29-year-old young man has invented a cement that makes magnetic walls: a solution to hang things without a drill or screws (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news We’ve found the secret ingredient for using desert sand in construction: sawdust and a giant sandwich maker was originally published in Xataka by José A. Lizana .

China is giving an overwhelming lesson in nuclear power plant construction to the rest of the planet

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The time it requires the construction of a nuclear power plant From the moment the concrete is poured until the moment it is connected to the electrical grid, it takes between 15 and 19 years in the West; between 7 and 9 years in Asia and the Middle East; and 6 to 10 years in India and Russia. And the total cost of the project usually ranges between 24,000 and 60,000 million dollars. Barakah 4 nuclear power plantin the United Arab Emirates, has four nuclear reactors, took 9 years to build and cost $24.4 billion. On the other hand, the nuclear plant Hinkley Point Cin the United Kingdom, clearly illustrates the execution problems faced by some Western nuclear projects. After several delays Its first reactor will come into operation at best 13 years after the start of construction of the plant. And its final cost will exceed 50 billion dollars. At an intermediate point, Vogtle Unit 4 is established, in the US, which has taken 11 years to be operational and has cost about 35 billion dollars. As can be expected, the number of reactors and the technology they use have a profound impact on the cost of the plant and the time that needs to be invested in its development. Even so, as we have just seen, construction costs and time vary greatly from one region of the planet to another, especially if we introduce China into the equation. And in this scenario the country led by Xi Jinping is unbeatable with a average construction time of 6 years per nuclear plant and a cost of $2,500/kW compared to the 10-year average and almost 8,500 dollars/kW for the rest of the planet. China’s recipe is the most competitive Shangwei Liu explains clearly in the article you published on the website of the Roosevelt Institute what is the strategy that China has devised to reduce the cost and time invested in the construction of its next-generation nuclear power plants. Its plan is based on two pillars: the reconstruction of the supply chain and economies of scale. To a large extent, China’s success is due to the fact that it has managed to create a national supply chain that is immune to the ups and downs and instability of the international market. In addition, it has a lot of qualified labor in all links of its supply chain. There is only one country on the entire planet capable of approaching China’s numbers in this complex and demanding scenario: South Korea. On the other hand, the economy of scale that has given China so much joy in a very wide range of markets also has a place in the production of the components required by nuclear plants. Furthermore, when replacing components manufactured abroad by local elements This Asian country managed to drastically reduce costs during the first decade of this century, and stabilize them during the last decade. However, there is another factor that works in China’s favor and that we cannot ignore: its coordinated industrial policy and stable regulatory framework allow it to carry out long-term planning. There is only one country on the entire planet capable of approaching China’s numbers in this complex and demanding scenario: South Korea. Its latest nuclear plant projects show a cost of between 3,500 and 4,500 dollars/kWwhich places it close to China, with 2,500 dollars/kW, and well below the average of 8,500 dollars/kW for the rest of the planet. This achievement is the result of approaching nuclear energy as an industrial assembly line and not as a set of isolated engineering projects. Again, economy of scale makes the difference. The US numbers are much less favorable. And the total cost of its latest nuclear plants exceeds $15,000/kWalthough presumably this figure will moderate until it barely exceeds the $10,000/kW in future projects. If Western countries want to drastically reduce their costs and moderate the time it takes to construct their nuclear power plants, they will necessarily have to look towards China and South Korea. The reconstruction of their supply chain is essential, and, in addition, they will have to resolve the crossroads posed by the commitment to large reactors, or by compact modular reactors. At the moment there are no other options on the table. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Roosevelt Institute In Xataka | The future of energy is floating in the Arctic: Russia’s ace up its sleeve is a nuclear plant

The most profitable action of the AI ​​revolution in Spain is not a software company. It is a construction company

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We know Florentino Pérez ample by hire galactics and for his business successes, but a priori we would not easily relate him to the rise of AI. And by not doing so we would make a serious mistake, because the manager managed to see before anyone else that this was a huge opportunity… and he is taking advantage of it almost without us realizing it. what has happened. ACS is a construction company that doesn’t seem particularly fascinating. You lay bricks, asphalt and cement, but in 2025 the data tells a fascinating story. The company obtained a net profit of 950 million euros, 15% more than the previous year, and the engine of that growth was its American subsidiary, Turnerwhose contribution to the group’s results grew by 66.6% to 549 million euros. Turner doesn’t build flats or highways. Build data centers. And therein lies the crux of the matter. AI needs big construction companies. The transformation has not happened all at once. ACS has been betting on this niche for years with a simple but powerful thesis: AI requires enormous amounts of hardware, and that hardware needs equally huge buildings with cooling, energy and security. And ACS is dedicated to precisely that: to build large buildings. In Xataka Amazon is building an empire in Aragon: it has just paid 1.5 million to expand the electrical network to its fifth data center Florentino triumphs in the US. Turner arrived earlier and stronger. In 2025, ACS won several large-scale data center contracts, including the construction of a 902-megawatt center in Wisconsin as part of the Stargate program, and a stake in the $10 billion, one-megawatt Meta campus in Indiana. Those are conventional projects. They are cities whose inhabitants are servants for this new era of AI. Go for it all. As they point out in five daysdata centers generated more than 9 billion euros in sales during 2025, and ACS has already delivered more than 9 GW of capacity all over the world. That figure is extraordinary, especially considering that in all of Spain the installed capacity barely reaches 7 GW. The Spanish company that talks the least about AI has been silently one of its great beneficiaries for years. Very much in the style of Florentino Pérez, who usually maintains a relatively low profile and succeeds without making too much noise. Stocks on the rise. The market took a while to see it, but it has reacted forcefully. ACS shares have soared 115% in the last twelve months. Today they are close to 110 euros and mark historical highs while the construction sector advances (“only”) 20%. Group sales they reached 49,848 million euros, with the US and Canada contributing 63% of the total. ACS is in practice more of a North American technological infrastructure company than a Spanish construction company. It is listed on the Ibex and is chaired by one of the great football personalities, yes, but its current driving force is not here, but in the US and in the AI ​​fever. Build and Own. ACS is not limited to executing other people’s contracts: it also wants to be the owner of what it builds. In January 2026, the company completed an alliance with Global Infrastructure Partners, BlackRock subsidiaryto create a 50/50 joint venture to develop a global data center platform with an initial capacity of 1.7 GW. Already before had bought Dornanan Irish engineering company specialized in this type of infrastructure, for 436 million euros. ACS doesn’t just want to build AI data centers: it wants to own a piece of that infrastructure. The dollar as a great risk. One of the big problems with this project is the US currency. With more than 60% of its income in North America, each fall of the dollar against the euro is a setback for the Spanish multinational. The devaluation of the dollar is already greater than 10% after the last twelve months, and that has prevented Turner’s growth from being even greater. According to Renta 4 analysts, the “currency effect” subtracted more than five percentage points from the growth of net profit. And investors warn. Analysts themselves consider that the AI ​​market has already discounted a good part of future growth. At Bloomberg, the consensus is to maintain the stock with an average target price of 88 euros, which would imply a fall of 20% compared to current levels. This is what usually happens with good economic stories: when everyone knows them, they are no longer an opportunity. But at ACS they are optimistic. Although experts are cautious, at ACS they expect that spending on infrastructure quadruples from now to 2034. In fact, they expect that the benefits of 2026 will go even further than those of 2025 and exceed 1,000 million euros. If it achieves this, Florentino’s company will have completed one of the quietest and most profitable industrial transformations in the recent history of our country. {“videoId”:”x86aas4″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”60% of the INTERNET passes through HERE: This is the LARGEST Data Processing Center in SPAIN”, “tag”:””, “duration”:”266″} Turner is ahead. According to Data Center MagazineTurner accumulated a backlog – a portfolio of confirmed orders – of $39 billion as of August 2025. It is the dominant construction company in this segment globally, although of course it has direct competitors such as DPR Construction, Holder, Skanska or AECOM. However, none have achieved the same concentration of contracts with the hyperscalers (Meta, Amazon and Microsoft). Turner has been building its reputation as a builder of this type of facility for more than a decade, and it is very difficult to replicate that advantage quickly. The irony of ACS and Spain. There is a geographical paradox in this success story: Spain and Europe have years debating on digital sovereignty, technological dependence and the need to build own infrastructure for not to be left out of the AI ​​revolution. While this debate is taking place, the Spanish company that is most building this infrastructure is doing so almost exclusively outside of Spain. As … Read more

This is the new mega construction that makes it possible

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The Seat and Cupra plant in Martorell has launched a new PXL hydraulic press which will manufacture up to 4 million pieces per year mainly intended for the bodywork of the Cupra Raval and the Volkswagen ID. Polethe two electric vehicles that the factory will begin producing in 2026. As the group has shared, the installation is now operational and is stamping parts for the company’s current models. A record installation. The PXL press, which according to Seat is among the most modern in the world, has six pressing machines with a combined force of 81,000 kN (kilo-Newton). It has a capacity of up to 15 strokes per minute, allowing it to stamp more parts in less time than the plant’s previous installations. According to account Seat, the process is completely automated, allowing you to change between dies of different production series in just five minutes. The installation supports up to 15 changes per day, according to the company. Technical challenge. The installation has become a technical challenge that has required 40 months between development and construction. To support its enormous weight and force, the press sits on a 9-meter-deep pit, which in turn rests on concrete piles that penetrate 20 meters underground, the equivalent of a seven-story building. “Communication and transversal work between the process, maintenance, manufacturing, logistics, IT, prevention and finance teams has been the catalyst for the success of this mega-construction,” explains Alicia Molina, director of Production Process Engineering at Seat and Cupra. Information to continue optimizing. According to they explain From the automotive group, one of the main novelties of this press is its ability to generate information. With each stamping, approximately 3,000 data are extracted that the company intends to use to improve production and maintenance control. Seat assures that it is developing two systems to interpret this flow of information and apply it to the prediction and optimization of processes. Preparing electrification. The idea with this mega construction is that it helps to shape the new wave of electric vehicles that Volkswagen intends to promote, thus adapting to an increasingly competitive field that has given rise to the European regulations regarding emissions and the growing appearance of Chinese firms that are becoming more and more established. “We have changed the chip, literally, and we are ready for the electric present,” affirms Jose Arreche, director of the Martorell factory. The facility will prepare the plant for the production of the Cupra Raval and Volkswagen ID. Polo, the two economical electric models that the automobile group intends to produce in 2026. They will certainly be the models that test the firm in terms of offering economical electric vehicles to the market. Images | SEAT In Xataka | Plug-in hybrids have become the preferred trap for bypassing ZBEs. There are already those who propose to harness its power

In 2016, a construction manager lost his 16,000 euro Rolex in a concrete pour. So he sued his company

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The story of a construction manager in Parma (Italy) has hit the local media for having lost a luxurious watch Rolex Daytona valued at around 16,000 euros while working on one of the construction sites that he had to supervise as part of his job. As if it were not striking enough that a construction worker (no matter how much of a construction manager he was) I had a Rolexand took him as if nothing had happened to an environment as hostile as a work in progress, the employee decided to add a twist to the drama of the story: sue the company, accusing it of being responsible for the loss of the valuable watch. Two courts had to show him what seemed obvious. Luxury formwork In May 2016, the person in charge of a construction site in the Italian city of Parma carried out the usual prior verifications when pouring concrete necessary to build the foundation of a building. Apparently nothing out of the ordinary in the reality of thousands of works anywhere in the world, except for the detail that this employee wore a Rolex Daytona on his wrist. In one of these verifications, the person in charge detected that one of the pumps in charge of pumping the concrete into the intended hole was not working properly, which prompted him to take control himself at that precise moment and personally manipulate the nozzle of one of the machines to instruct his colleagues on how to pour it correctly. While holding a metal chain anchored to the end of the concrete mixer chute to control the direction in which the material should be poured, he waited for the staff to reactivate the pump. It was then that, when the spill resumed, something happened that triggered the loss. According to the witnesses called to testify in the trial: “Within minutes of resuming concrete pouring, while still holding the supply pipe as described, another sudden blockage occurred. Without giving him time to break free and move away, the pipe moved with a sudden and violent jerk, with such force that it lifted him off the ground and threw him several meters away.” After the incident, the construction manager composed himself and warned that his Rolex Daytona had disappeared from his wrist: everything indicated that the valuable Swiss watch had disappeared in the middle of the quick-setting concrete. At that same moment, exhaustive searches were launched, even within the mix, but the watch was never recovered. Outraged by the mishap, the employee blamed both the company and the machinery for the accident and filed a lawsuit requesting full compensation for the lost watch due to the malfunction of the concrete pumping system. According to collect The Italian newspaper Corriere di Bologna, in its statement, stated verbatim: “You owe me my Rolex Daytona for 16,000 euros; it is your fault and the machine’s fault.” Common sense two courts Italian justice was clear, and it was clear on two occasions: the responsibility fell on the construction manager for not being sufficiently cautious. After lose the lawsuit In the first instance, the construction manager submitted the first ruling to the Court of Appeal of Bologna, which determined – for the second time – that “it is seriously unsustainable that directing the trunk of a concrete mixer to direct the pouring of concrete on foundations under construction is an activity that can be carried out wearing a 16,000 euro watch”, as literally stated in the ruling signed by judges Rossi, Gaudioso and Mazze who formed the court. In their resolution, the magistrates concluded that the employee did not adopt the essential “expertise and diligence” measures, which made any claim against the company inadmissible. For this reason, the employee not only lost the valuable watch, but was also forced to pay an additional 2,500 euros in legal costs. The Rolex it cost him money even after losing it. In Xataka | Rolex is tired of theft and counterfeiting: they want to use NFT chips and blockchain-based certificates of authenticity Image | Rolex, Unsplash (Troy Mortier)

In the rural US there are more and more towns mobilized against its construction

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The race they are in disputing Big Tech Mastering artificial intelligence is driving massive investment in data center infrastructure around the world, especially in the United States. But there are already localities that are complaining of it. In fact, some are even going so far as to ban the construction of data centers altogether. And there are several reasons for this, especially because its monstrous water consumptionelectricity and noise. An unprecedented case. Saline Township, a small rural municipality in Michigan, rejected the construction of a 100-acre data center on agricultural land. Just like account Washington Post, the developer Related Digital responded with a lawsuit, accompanied by neighbors who wanted to sell their land for the project. The city ended up giving in to the threat of a lengthy legal process, achieving only a few concessions such as limits on water use and millions of dollars for the fire department. “They were between a rock and a hard place,” explained Fred Lucas, the municipality’s attorney. Why protests are multiplying. For decades, data centers have been discrete infrastructures necessary to keep the Internet running. But the AI ​​boom has accelerated its construction at a dizzying pace, and local communities have begun to perceive its drawbacks. Ben Green, professor at the University of Michigan, points out that “there has been a real change in the last six months in terms of the public becoming more aware of what data centers are and becoming more skeptical.” What they offer and what they do not offer to cities. The promoters usually promise fiscal investment, municipal income and jobs. Related Digital, for example, offered 3.5 million dollars for affordable housing in Cheyenne, Wyoming. However, construction work is temporary and once operational, these centers require very few employees. Meanwhile, your energy consumption It drives up neighbors’ electric bills and some use large amounts of water to cool their systems. Just like account Midway, in Memphis, residents protested an xAI data center for polluting natural gas turbines. The cities that are standing up. St. Charles, Missouri, went beyond rejection, as approved unanimously a one-year moratorium prohibiting any construction of data centers. The decision came after developer CRG proposed a 178-hectare facility near drinking water wells, without disclosing expected water consumption or noise levels. “It almost looks like they were trying to force it down people’s throats,” assured a 78-year-old neighbor in the middle. CRG withdrew its application before the vote. Even with million-dollar investment, fear persists. Lordstown, Ohio, welcomed with enthusiasm part of the stargate projecta $500 billion investment led by OpenAI and SoftBank, to repurpose a former General Motors factory closed in 2019. The idea was to manufacture data center components on site, with a small demonstration facility. But when OpenAI’s announcements raised fears of a large-scale data center being set up, the city council introduced a permanent ban on new data centres, with the only exception being the already agreed installation. “People panicked,” explained in the middle Mayor Jackie Woodward. Virginia, epicenter of political debate. The data center problem has also become an election issue in Virginiaone of the states most affected by this expansion. In Prince William County, near Washington DC, Republican and Democratic candidates compete to see who can promise tougher measures against these infrastructures. “I think we should ban all future data centers,” Republican candidate Patrick Harders declared in a debate, while his Democratic rival George Stewart agreed that “the crushing weight of data centers” was a crisis, with large companies “making us, as residents, pay for their energy.” The immediate future. With a billion dollars in recent investments and the energy demand of AI growing without brakes, everything indicates that this conflict has only just begun. Technology companies need these infrastructures to promote their technology based on generative artificial intelligence, but localities in the United States are increasingly reluctant to build them. Cover image | İsmail Enes Ayhan In Xataka | ChatGPT and AI have done for hard drives what no one expected: brought them back to life

All new construction buildings are becoming the same building

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It doesn’t matter that you live in Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao, Grenade, Malaga either Vigoto name just a handful of cities. If you take a walk through the majority of municipalities in Spain, it is more than likely to meet the same picture: white and black residential buildings. The chromatic sobriety taken to the extreme seems to send among the blocks of New construction. Even in rehabilitations in which the facades are formed. It might seem a simple fashion issue, but – without discarding that factor – reality is a lot more complex and rich in nuances. So … why so many black and white buildings? The trend is already Some time Besting, but it has spread to such an extent and with such force that today all cities can be found in (almost). Populous cities of the size of Madrid either Valencia. And others with less population, such as A Coruña, Cáceres either Grenade. If new construction promotions are reviewed, it seems that almost all have come out of the same Architecture study. Black and White Mandate. As in his day he did the caravista brick. It is not necessary to leave home and travel the cities of the country to check it. Arrives with a look at the catalog of promoters such as Aedas Homes, Neinor Homes, Celere, Metrovacesa either Real estate habitat. There are exceptions, of course; But if we had to identify a trend in its portfolios and infographics is precisely that: the recurring use of whites, blacks and gray tones. Tax, tastes … and much more Made of tastes and fashions? It is an explanation. In 2023 the newspaper Herald He wondered Why in the neighborhoods of Zaragoza with a significant number of new buildings seemed to be repeated again and again the same picture: facades that combine white, black and dark gray. To clear the unknown he consulted with Grupo Lobe, behind one of the new buildings in the Aragonese capital that had opted for that combination: black, white and, where appropriate, an anthracite gray. And while the firm pointed to several factors, one of them is pure aesthetic. “There is another issue that we consider that it is the taste of the people. We are clear that attracts black and white, or very dark gray,” Álvaro Van Horenbeke saidarchitect of the firm. “For other more unique projects, other tones are used, but in general this combination is easier for it not to become timeless.” Other voices in the sector talk about the desire to “Generate dualities”a commitment to white linked to Modern movement or the simple taste for black and dark gray, such as anthracite or RAL 7016. That the commitment to black and white has spread so strongly does not respond to a simple issue of fashion or the search for an aesthetic as “timeless” possible. Black and white are not any chromatic options, as Van Horenbeke himself recognized. Aesthetic values apart, both are key in a strictly practical aspect: their behavior to reflect either absorb sunlight, which in turn influences temperature. The use of white can be so strategic that there are university researchers dedicated to Find the variety more “pure” possible – the whiter white – to improve its ability to reflect and use it in paintings capable of cooling surfaces that permeate below environmental values. Moreover, there are still the curl there are scientists who They have theorized On the advantages that it would have for the planet covering 2% of the land surface of “ultrabranco”. The architect Pedro Torrijos points another key to understanding the enormous popularity of black and white, which extends even to the reforms: the search for a more effective thermal insulation. The disseminator also remembers the great popularity of the SateThermal insulation systems on the outside that basically They consist in the installation of a thermal insulation on the outer walls of a building to improve thermal performance. By way of finishing Revoco or plates coatings with ceramics or stone can be used. It does not condition black and white, but that is a bet that has gained popularity against more risky ones. “The promoters are conservative.” There is an old adage that says ‘if something works … Why change it?’ That is another of the possible explanationseven simpler: if black and white buildings work in the market, why risk doing something that generates rejection? From the collective Madrid projects They remember that in the sector there are large companies that bet on formulas and studies that are already known to them. “There are few promoters who do a lot of work. They do it a bit in series,” they ironize. Chromatic sobriety is also associated with minimalism, although Madrid projects recognizes that repeating a recurrent formula as happened in its day with bricks causes a risk: “saturation.” “If you want to make a new image you can do it with brick and shapes, but it is normal to go to a more technological material. On the other hand, in Spain everything that has color sounds to social housing,” They pointed Three years ago since the Hisplelyt firm To the opinion of A Coruña. “In the end, 99% of the promotions look for something quiet, so they are sure that it will sell well. They only ask us for color and give some vidilla when we make students residences.” To better understand the phenomenon, Madrid projects slides another even more striking concept: “Buildings cream cake”. The expression helps to understand the success that works in black and white have achieved. The idea is to lift simple buildings to which a layer is then added to “generate a certain volume feeling”, as is the case in pastry with the cream. “To give a more chic touch, these slabs are given,” they say from the collective before aiming their advantages for example to “hide” small windows or other details. “It’s a beautiful finish,” they abound. The idea connects with another concept: that of “marketing architecture”. “These … Read more

China has the ability to stop the construction of new AI data centers. It is a nightmare for the US

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During the last two years The Chinese government has fought The US sanctions and its allies resorting to a strategy that has proven to be very effective. China controls the production and processing of several critical minerals For semiconductor industries, renewable energies or electric car, among other sectors, which has led to the administration led by Xi Jinping to regulate its export in a very strict way. In early December 2024 He chose to prohibit The export of some critical minerals to the US, among which were three essential metals for the chips industry: Gallium, Germanio and Antimony. Shortly after the Chinese government added two more critical metals to its list of export restrictions: Scandio and Disposio. However, there is a much less exotic chemical element than those I just mentioned the one that is barely talking. China also controls it and is using it to put the US against the strings. Bismuth is a fundamental metal for the global technology industry Although it is not monopolizing as many headlines in international media as rare earths, bismuth (BI) is an essential chemical element not only for the integrated circuit industry, but for the entire global technology sector. It is a whitish, crystalline and relatively fragile metal that acquires a pinkaceous tone when coming into contact with the air. It shares some physicochemical properties with lead and tin, but it has a distinctive characteristic that has helped it be erected as the essential metal that is: it is much less toxic than other heavy metals, such as lead. However, this is not at all its only quality. In addition, it is the most diamagnetic metal, so when introducing it into a magnetic field it is repelled very weakly. On the other hand, its electrical resistance is high and its thermal conductivity is very low. Interestingly, the only metal that has even smaller thermal conductivity is mercury. And its melting point is relatively low (about 271.3 ° C), while Its boiling point touches the 2,000 ° C. Finally, the bismuth has another very unusual property among the metals that are worth not overlooking: when it solidifies it expands. The bismuth is an essential metal thanks to its intervention in welds and the tuning of thermoelectric materials If we had to stay with only two characteristics of all that we just reviewed the chosen ones would be their low toxicity index and their ability to expand when solidified. In fact, these properties largely justify their use in industries that have a strategic role for many countries, such as chips, consumer electronics, renewable energy or electric car. Although it participates in a wide range of applications, the bismuth is an essential metal thanks to its intervention in the welds and the tuning of thermoelectric materials. For many decades the metal usually used in welds was lead, but it has an important problem: it is very toxic. Gradually this metal has been displaced by the alloys of bismuth and tin, which are much less toxic, and, in addition, They have a very low melting point. In fact, these alloys have a leading role in the manufacture of flexible substrates, printed circuit plates and all kinds of electronic components. On the other hand, thermoelectric materials allow generating electricity taking advantage of temperature and vice versa differences, so they are very important in the development of efficient cooling systems. China is currently the largest world producer in bismuth. In fact, control between 80 and 84% of the supply of this metal, so the global distribution chain is in your hands. Only in 2024 this Asian country produced 13,000 metric tons of this chemical element, while outside the borders of China, only 3,000 more tons were refined. This essentially absolute control has led to the Chinese government to drastically restrict Bismuth export with the purpose of responding to the sanctions of their rivals. In the US, some technology companies are already against the ropes because their bismuth reserves are running out. And it is not precisely unimportant companies. Google, Amazon and Nvidia are three of the US companies that Chinese bismuth urgently need In order to sustain the construction of your new data centers for applications of artificial intelligence (AI), so They have asked the US government that he reaches an agreement with his Chinese counterpart. Otherwise the development of AI in the country led by Donald Trump will be compromised. In this area, as we have just seen, China has the pan well grabbed by the handle. More information | China / Business Inside In Xataka | The two most important chip companies in China have a problem: the 5 Nm have been choked

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