Quantum computers, much like artificial intelligence, have the potential to become one of the defining inventions of the 21st century. They can process information much faster than classical computers, using their qubits to perform computation in parallel rather than sequentially. This type of computation can do wonders for research that would otherwise take multiple generations, such as battery electrolyte discovery or new drug delivery molecules. However, quantum computers require specialized facilities to operate due to the nature of the bits that they use. These quantum computer bits, or qubits, use quantum particles, such as photons, atoms, electrons, or superconducting circuits, as ways to store information, whereas regular bits essentially use small switches that can be turned on or off to store information. The latter version of a bit can only be in two states, on or off (0 or 1), whereas quantum particles have multiple states, allowing for more ways to store information per bit. Much of the energy used by quantum computing facilities goes toward maintaining the quantum coherence of each qubit, which is a fancy way of saying “keeping them cold and contained”.
Through the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), a research consortium led by institutions in Chicago and the surrounding area, various stakeholders have come together to explore the possibility of large-scale quantum computing and address these challenges. In July 2024, one of the participating quantum computing companies, PsiQuantum, announced its plan to build a “quantum park” at the site of the old South Works steel mill, which includes a semiconductor chip manufacturing plant, alongside the Calumet River in Chicago. This may seem like the perfect project for the vacant site on the surface, which has been flagged for soil contamination in the past when it was a target site for a residential megadevelopment. However, there are concerns about pollution surrounding the project.
While this project has been touted as a boon for the economy as well as the quantum science innovation space, many residents of the area where the facility is being built are voicing concerns about the project. It has been moving forward relatively quickly, with the City Council giving plan and zoning approvals not even a year after the announcement of the project, and the groundbreaking being scheduled for this year. Residents of southeast Chicago are in want of transparency regarding this project, where environmental concerns are not new. As mentioned before, many quantum computing technologies require a substantial amount of energy to keep the system cold and contained, which can require 25 kW per cooling unit. According to the U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average home uses about 1.24 kW at any given time, making the energy requirement similar to that of about 20 homes. This would make the cooling an energy-intensive process on a larger scale. This raises the question: where will this energy come from? While advances in cryogenic cabinet technology that PsiQuantum is using could provide thousands of times more cooling power than the conventional technology used to cool superconducting qubits, they are still limited by their size, making them a challenge to scale up. Therefore, clean energy sources are imperative for keeping environmental concerns to a minimum, regardless of the cooling technology used.
Connections to AI Data Centers
These concerns are not just exclusive to quantum computing. They’ve also made AI data centers a point of controversy in conversations on energy use and sustainable development. Recently, Elon Musk has come under fire for polluting communities in South Memphis by emitting toxic greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, smog, and carcinogens, in the surrounding residential area with gas turbines powering an xAI supercomputer. The common thread between both of these situations is that both involve multi-billion-dollar projects with hefty energy demands placed in the southern parts of their respective cities. Interestingly enough, the south sides of cities (i.e., the south side of Chicago, Boston, New York, etc.) tend to be where pollutants are the most concentrated. In Chicago, much of the pollution affects the south and west sides due to the location of many greenhouse gas-emitting sources, such as manufacturing plants and highways. If these large computational and manufacturing complexes continue to use energy sources with large greenhouse gas emissions, the advent of data centers and the acceleration of semiconductor manufacturing plants may usher in another era of air pollution akin to that of the Industrial Revolution.
A map of areas in Chicago hit hardest by pollution. Red is the highest, blue is the lowest (Chase & Judge, 2018)
Is Chicago the Best Testing Ground for Data Centers?
Illinois is unique in the sense that a large amount of its energy comes from nuclear and renewable energy sources. In 2023, about 54.9% of Illinois’ electricity generation came from nuclear power, and 13.5% from renewable energy sources, according to the Illinois Clean Energy Dashboard. Because of this, Illinois may not have the same concerns as other states without as clean an energy grid system. Chicago itself has been committed to developing a clean energy grid since 2008, with the city launching a host of initiatives involving renewable energy and energy-efficient architecture. With the city’s robust support of clean energy, Chicago is a promising place to test commercial quantum computing.
Electricity generation mix of the Illinois energy grid in 1990 and 2023 (Clean Energy Dashboard)
However, the concern of land contamination remains. Though companies need to be more transparent about the extent of chemical waste produced, many semiconductor manufacturers use carcinogens in their processes, such as sulfuric acid, catechol, and naphthalene. Putting these types of factories in communities facing high levels of pollution would only exacerbate the problem. Even if the Illinois grid energy system is clean, this doesn’t mean that all the environmental concerns are solved. The surrounding environment still needs to be monitored and properly regulated so that issues like soil contamination can be kept to a minimum.
Further Conversation: Conscious Sustainability
When discussing greenhouse gas emissions and soil contamination, there is another important dimension that often receives less attention: both South Memphis and Southeast Chicago are largely black residential areas. In many major cities, greenhouse gases and other air pollutants disproportionately affect black and brown communities, often located on the southern sides of the city. This is due to the historically racist practice of redlining, where certain races of people were discriminated against when trying to buy or rent property. This would keep them in neighborhoods often deemed dangerous and low-income. These neighborhoods were then kept that way by those in control of the real estate through disinvestment from these communities. This predominantly affects the south and west sides of Chicago, as shown by an ArcGIS StoryMap on pollution patterns in Chicago (Rajagopalan & Zerkle 2023). Considering this brings another facet of the clean energy and infrastructure planning conversation to the forefront: how does energy consumption affect historically marginalized communities? When talking about sustainable development, is there enough conversation around the impact of pollution on historically marginalized communities?
On a global scale, the largest emitters of greenhouse gases are places in high-income countries. The one exception, Brazil, offsets its emissions by having 33.5% of its energy coming from renewable sources, according to the Global Footprint Network. Despite this fact, the ones hit hardest by climate change are those in the middle and low-income countries. This seems to be a trend of the 21st century, where many new technologies come at the expense of disenfranchised communities. Will this continue to be the reality? Throughout history, there have always been concerns about the repercussions of large factories, with the addition of large computers only adding fuel to the fire. Quantum computing, though an extraordinary technology, can still present the same environmental problems as many industrial processes if those responsible for the facilities are not careful. Solving these problems requires the conversation around sustainability to not only focus on energy usage and material availability, but the effects on the people and community.
Reader Question
What can state governments do to accommodate the needs of communities where these data centers and manufacturing plants are being built?
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