this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
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Are you aware that reducing the energy consumption on monitors is competely irrelevant compared to the giant data centers coming up now, taking as much as power as a full city?
One typical AI data center ≈ 1 TWh/year ≈ the electricity used by 100 000 average homes annually.
A very large AI data center under construction ≈ 20 TWh/year ≈ electricity for ~2 million homes annually.
Fun times isnt it.
By that logic, I should go out and just start a murder spree, because people die anyway so whats the point.
Start?
You can care about more than one thing
Of course, buy monitors that use a bit less energy. That will give you probably 1 dollar per year in savings, and you can spend that on something nicer. A cup of coffee maybe.
Yes, sort of like if your kitchen is on fire but you also need to vacuum the living room. You should definitely focus on finishing the vacuuming before addressing the fire, because, you know, you can care about more than one thing.
Fires are more urgent than messes, but we have firemen and custodians and need them both. The poster can vote with his wallet to get the best energy efficiency possible in his home electronics and possibly vote at the ballot box to help regulate corporate energy waste.
It doesn't seem sane that he would have to forego every other endeavor in his life until the most urgent issue in it is resolved, even if there is no direct action he can take about that one at this time.
I need a new car and also to do the dishes. The new car is much more important, but I have no means to work on the car issue today and am already standing in the kitchen. Is it more productive if I pace around wringing my hands in concern about the car problem, or maybe wash some dishes now and get a car in the morning when the dealership opens?
You are describing urgent vs important. Fire fighting is always urgent, but in many ways, janitorial services are often more important to your daily life.
Try to keep up with me here: what if you could put out the fire and vacuum at the same time?
lemme guess, you're gonna vaccum the fire 😭
no no, you rake fires.
Wait, that works!?
BRB!
I personally do reject that kind of thinking.
"But others are worse" reminds me of the kindergarten..
EU has introduced energy efficiency levels for monitors based on the potential and we are far from the goal.
I can't tear down AI data centers, but I can choose to buy a monitor that does not heat up my living room and leads to a nicer electricity bill for me.
"I can't tear down AI data"
I mean, if the wealthy won't listen and they are trying to steal all our resources this is exactly what must happen.
I'm reminded of this type of absurdity every time my Creative T40 speakers auto-shut off after a few minutes of inactivity, and take 4 seconds to wake up again. Yes, that entire millijoule of (entirely renewable) electrical energy is making a huge difference.