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Time Is Money

Oct 16, 2024 • 5 min read

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Google To Purchase Nuclear Energy From Kairo’s Power
Inner Earth Water Discoveries

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Google To Purchase Nuclear Energy From Kairo’s Power:

Google has agreed to purchase 500 megawatts of power from seven small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to be built by Kairos Power. These reactors, planned to begin operation by the end of the decade, will likely be located near Google’s data centers, though it is unclear whether the energy will be supplied directly or through the grid.
This initiative aligns with Google’s push toward increased energy solutions to power its growing AI and data-processing needs. Similarly, Microsoft has made strides in nuclear energy, securing a 20-year, 837-megawatt power agreement from the revived Three Mile Island nuclear plant. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has followed suit by acquiring a data center campus adjacent to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant, with a capacity of up to 960 megawatts.
The cloud market, led by companies like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, is facing increasing pressure as data centers grow in number and size. Current energy grids may struggle to keep up with the rising demand, especially as data centers require more power for AI and data processing. Nuclear energy offers the ability to generate significant amounts of electricity without relying on an already strained grid, helping ensure data centers can expand and operate efficiently while meeting the growing energy needs of the future.

Inner Earth Water Discoveries:

In 2024, scientists made significant progress in understanding deep-Earth water reservoirs, focusing on how water trapped in minerals like ringwoodite, located about 400 miles beneath the surface, influences geological activity. This water, stored in the mantle’s transition zone, is released through dehydration melting, a process that drives partial melting and fuels tectonic plate movement. The discovery suggests that this water reservoir might contain more water than Earth’s surface oceans. These findings offer critical insights into the planet’s deep water cycle and its role in shaping Earth’s internal dynamics.
This builds on groundbreaking research from 2014 when scientists first detected water stored in ringwoodite using seismic data and a sample brought to the surface in a diamond. This discovery shifted our understanding of the Earth’s deep water reserves and how they might influence volcanic and tectonic activity. By 2016, further research revealed that water could be stored as deep as 1,800 miles, expanding our knowledge of how water affects mantle convection and the broader geological processes.
These advancements were made possible by technological breakthroughs, such as high-resolution seismic tomography and data from the USArray network of seismometers. Combined with laboratory simulations replicating extreme pressure and temperature conditions, scientists have mapped these hidden water reservoirs and studied how they move and interact with the Earth’s interior. As technology continues to advance, these methods will allow for further discoveries about Earth’s hidden water and how it impacts not only geological activity but potentially the dynamics of other planets.
Despite these discoveries, we have only physically explored a small fraction of the Earth’s subsurface. The deepest we’ve ever drilled is 7.5 miles, at the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia, barely scratching the surface compared to the 400 miles where these water reservoirs exist. This means that much of what lies beneath the Earth remains unknown. As new technology uncovers more about subterranean Earth, scientists expect to discover more about subterranean resources, caverns, and other features, potentially transforming our understanding of the Earth’s structure and processes.

Statistic:

Largest oil and gas companies by market capitalization:

🇸🇦 Saudi Aramco: $1.750T

🇺🇸 Exxon Mobil: $534.69B

🇺🇸 Chevron: $268.09B

🇨🇳 PetroChina: $208.32B

🇬🇧 Shell: $203.95B

🇫🇷 TotalEnergies: $147.70B

🇨🇳 CNOOC: $128.32B

🇺🇸 ConocoPhillips: $122.17B

🇨🇳 Sinopec: $104.91B

🇺🇸 Southern Company: $99.28B