Google patent for ocean-based sustainable data centers

Google filed a patent in February that documents a concept for designing data centers that could be powered and cooled by the ocean. The centers are shaped like a submerged pontoon, and could be located in large lakes or 3 to 7 miles off shore. The pontoons would require depths of around 50-70 meters. They could be a sustainable alternative to DC’s that are powered off the grid (or back-up batteries) as they could be powered by wind, wave and solar energy, and cooled by low temperature waters. There may be potential for OTEC power, an modular islands such as Energy Island may be suitable as housing or ‘docks’ to tether the data centers. Ocean based data centers may even be able to tap directly into submarine optical fiber cables.

The design has financial advantages beyond sustainable power: Offshore centers would presumably avoid property taxes, and building rights may be more easily obtained than those for existing data centers (which often occupy 2 or 3 football fields of land).

Larry Dignan (Editor in Chief of ZDNet) notes that wild-cards abound:

Jurisdiction issues will occur. Are states really going to allow Google or anyone else place these pontoons offshore without some tax hit? And the logistics of making this rollout happen are daunting. However, Google has the capital to make it work. More importantly, Google’s ocean data center model can scale. Once the first efforts are deployed best practices will emerge quickly.

Visit here to see the patent filed by Google.

Some considerations:

-Who will ensure the security of these floating data centers (from natural disasters, terrorism) and how?
-Could these structures have adverse effects on ocean currents, ocean temperatures or marine life?