DC weekly roundup: Data centers’ hot summer; $40M for nuclear energy; Lawyers take over local labor force

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Hot summer spikes data center energy use

With a constant requirement for energy, mostly for cooling, data centers now account for about 2% of total US electricity use — and growing. 

But there are researchers looking for other ways to cool. At Virginia Tech, mechanical engineering professor Jonathan Boreyko and team are experimenting with materials that optimize heat transfer via “jumping bubbles” created by boiling water. The bubbles are used to carry energy and heat away, he told me, and can be used to control temperatures in large-scale buildings like data centers. 

Aligned Data Centers, which says it has figured out a way to streamline temperature control, patented its cooling technology. Its temperature control machines absorb heat from the servers and move that hot air away through coils away from the tech,  said Chief Innovation and Technology Officer Phill Lawson-Shanks. That hot air then loops back and is converted to cold air.

➡️ Read more about climate control and data center energy consumption here

$40M to build micro-nuclear plants

Last Energy’s CEO and founder Bret Kugelmass credits the firm’s rapid growth to energy demands from data centers “needing significantly more power than before.” About half of customers are data center developers, he told me. 

The company’s microreactors have a higher energy capacity than wind or solar renewable energy, he said. It also removes a reliance on the power grid, which will not be able to handle the number of planned data centers in Virginia, reported above by Technical.ly.

“[Data center developers] want something that functions like an iPhone; a small, mass-manufacturable product that comes ready out of the box,” Kugelmass said. “That’s our approach, which enables us to deliver units faster and at significantly lower cost.”

➡️ Learn more about Last Energy’s technology here

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News Incubator: What else to know

• The DMV surpasses several other areas in employing residents in the legal field, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There’s also a lofty median salary of $143,400 per year. [Technical.ly]

•  The National Institute of Standards and Technology, under the Dept. of Commerce, announced “agreements” with Anthropic and OpenAI for AI safety research and testing. [NIST]

•  Two far-right conspiracy theorists and convicted felons are running the startup LobbyMatic, which is claimed to provide services to integrate AI into lobbying.  [Politico]

• The edtech startup Ello, the developer behind an AI reading app, is donating iPads and books to local hospitals in DC. [Ello]

• The Manassas hybrid airplane company Electra.aero hired a longtime Boeing executive as its next CEO. [Washington Biz Journal]

• The Silver Spring-based fertility tracking app Grain Fertility won third place at an innovation challenge in DC hosted by the California healthtech company CharmHealth. [CharmHealth/Technical.ly]

•  A new book by a Washingtonian contributing editor examines the history of clashes between private sector CEOs and US presidents. [Washingtonian] 

• Trump is proposing to relocate up to 100,000 federal jobs if he’s elected in November. Local leaders are concerned with the effects that move would have on the local economy. [AP]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• DC Tech Meetup’s event tomorrow is all about AI. It’ll feature a town hall, demos and a panel about using the tech in the public sector, moderated by me! I would love to see you there. [Details here]

• Technical.ly partner: Explore innovation, sustainability and global impact at the Halcyon Innovation Summit on Saturday, Sept. 12. Part of the org’s 10th anniversary celebrations, the conference features keynotes, panel discussions on climate, health and equity, and sessions on impact investing and the state of on DEI. [Register here]

• Women and Gender eXpansive Coders DC is hosting a virtual workshop on Sept. 15 to practice coding interviews. [Details here]