Tag Archives: water supply

Insight

Can Malaysia’s AI data centres go green?

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A wave of AI server farms is turning Malaysia into Southeast Asia’s digital epicentre, but their high energy use could derail the country’s climate goals, writes Genevieve Mallet, Dialogue Earth.

DATA CENTRES are springing up across Southeast Asia as China and the US vie for Artifical Intelligence (AI) supremacy. Tech giants – from ByteDance and Alibaba to Google and Microsoft – are setting their sights on Johor, Malaysia’s manufacturing hub just across the strait from Singapore. A rich agricultural state, Johor is now also home to sprawling data centre parks.

Since 2023, Malaysia has announced RM99 billion in data centre investments, much of it involving AI facilities, with a further RM149 billion in the near future. With cheap electricity, labour and ample land, Malaysia has proven to be a compelling alternative to its land-constrained neighbour and is set to become the fastest-growing data-centre hotspot in Southeast Asia.

(Feature image: Workers at a data centre under construction in Sedenak Tech Park in Johor |  Image © Vincent Thian / Associated Press / Alamy)

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Blog 2024

Protecting Selangor’s Rivers and Water

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Recording a show on Selangor rivers at BFM89.9. From left: Kennedy Michael, Law Yao Hua, and Chen Yih Wen.
Recording a show on Selangor rivers at BFM89.9. From left: Kennedy Michael, Law Yao Hua, and Chen Yih Wen. Credit: Juliet Jacobs.

11 Dec 2024: In this Earth Matters segment on BFM89.9FM Radio, we discuss the links between Selangor’s costly water cuts and the  health of its rivers. The state government’s aims to protect all its river banks as reserves — could that work?

The show featured journalists Chen Yih Wen and Law Yao Hua, and Kennedy Michael, co-founder of Alliance of River Three (ART!). Produced by Juliet Jacobs on ‘Earth Matters’, 89.9FM Radio.

Based on our story Banking on River Reserves to Protect Water Supply.

[The story is supported by a grant from YELL.]

Insight

Banking on River Reserves to Protect Water Supply

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Selangor wants to secure its water supply with more river reserves. But will the law have teeth? And what about protecting the forests that feed the rivers?

SELANGOR residents are no strangers to frequent water cuts. They have suffered water cuts due to river pollution every year in the last decade except for 2017 and 2018, according to news reports.

Pollution in the raw water intake, particularly from illegal dumping and industrial discharge into rivers, has forced Air Selangor to shut down key treatment plants. Such disruptions severely impact the water supply for residents across Klang Valley and surrounding regions.

(Feature image: Volunteers doing their best to keep a riverbank clean in Taman Melawati, Selangor. River pollution has caused major and costly water cuts in the state. |  Photo by Chen Yih Wen)

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Insight

Securing Water in a Harsher Climate

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El Niño sparks concerns of dry taps in Malaysia. And as global temperatures increase, so will droughts and heatwaves, experts say. In response, government agencies are coordinating water assets and integrating water management for better water security.

EL NIÑO is back, casting its fiery spell upon Malaysia once more.

Last observed in 2019, this natural phenomenon is often synonymous with hot and dry weather in Malaysia. During particularly strong El Niño events in 1997 and 2015, millions of Malaysians endured water rationing – some for months – as dams dried up.

Now, experts are sounding the alarm as they predict this El Niño weather might last until March 2024 and intensify. To shield ourselves from the impacts of El Niño, it is now more vital than ever to ensure our water resources are well prepared. But can we?

(Photo: Air Hitam Dam is one of three dams on Penang Island. Authorities had to do cloud-seeding in June 2023 to replenish the dropping water levels at the dam. | Image from Google Earth Pro, June 22, 2022)

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