Energy, AI, data centres, and space
It s the end of the financial year, and a lot of us are donating this week. Some of that is the tax deduction, which makes now the sensible time to give. That s fair. But it s worth noticing the the deduction nudges our giving toward whatever happens to be tax-deductible, rather than whatever does the most Continue reading Why I gave to a charity I couldn t claim on tax The post Why I gave to a…
One year into the Australian Cheaper Home Batteries program, Australia’s household battery storage has quadrupled to around 16 GWh. I’ve updated the interactive map of postcode-level battery capacity and accompanying analysis here. April 2026 was a record month at 2.8 GWh as households rushed to beat the 1 May rebate step-down, which cut the discount for Continue reading Mapping Australia s…
Data centres in space — crazy but maybe not quite as crazy as you think. Here are all the pros and cons of putting data centres in space so you can impress your colleagues and friends the next time this comes up in conversation. People started talking a lot about data centres in space around Continue reading Data centres in space: all the pros and cons The post Data centres in space: all the pros…
Anthropic s off-peak Claude promotion is smart for their servers — but it could mean more AI compute when the grid is most stressed. Anthropic is trialling double Claude usage outside of peak Claude time (8 am to 2 pm ET on weekdays), or 10 pm to 4 am AEST, for 2 weeks — pretty handy Continue reading Claude s off-peak promotion is smart for servers, possibly bad for the grid The post Claude s…
Anthropic, the creators of Claude, are opening an office in Sydney as part of their expansion to Australia and New Zealand, which rank 4th and 8th globally on per capita Claude usage. What does this mean for Anthropic and Australia? The most common topics people use Claude for in Australia. The full data explorer here Continue reading How exactly do data centres affect electricity prices? The post…
Why peak electricity capacity matters Australia’s peak electricity demand is set to grow significantly thanks to data centres and electrification of vehicles and appliances — even after accounting for self-consumption from solar and batteries. Actual and forecast regional annual 50% POE maximum operational demand by state, 2025 ESOO Step Change and 2024 ESOO Central scenario, Continue reading…
I ve started a Substack. Feel free to subscribe to me there as well. A few interesting things on data centres and energy this week one analysis places data centre demand on the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) as materially lower than headline figures suggest, Australia hasn t yet figured out who should pay for it, Continue reading Data centre demand forecasts, phantom load, and who…
My entry to the Keep the Future Human essay contest — a competition asking entrants to grapple with the question of how humanity navigates the development of artificial general intelligence. The contest invites submissions that explore what a future looks like where we actually succeed at keeping humans in control, and what it takes to Continue reading Assemblyman Takeda s 2040 address on AI The…
AI will likely be the most transformational technology in history. Debate is usually about whether that will happen in 3 years or 30 years. Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic (creator of the LLM Claude) writes that: “AI models… are good enough at coding that some of the strongest engineers I’ve ever met are now Continue reading On the next 2 years of AI The post On the next 2 years of AI appeared…
I like my fictional stories internally consistent. That doesn t always have to mean they re realistic (I like fantasy but I know dragons aren t real), but they should be consistent within the rules they set for themselves. If the bad guys keep shooting at but missing the main characters, that s bad writing. If it turns out Continue reading Short takes: The coconut effect The post Short takes: The…