The EU orders 20,000 graphics cards for research projects

An identical copy of the planet Earth and huge amounts of graphics cards will help the EU with sustainable development. The project, named “Destination Earth”, aims to “develop a detailed digital model of the earth to monitor and simulate natural and human activity”. With the help of the digital twin, researchers will then be able to study everything from the state of the world’s oceans to natural disasters and simulate different climate scenarios.

That is why the EU is now initiating orders for as many as 20,000 graphics processors for the construction of a new supercomputer. To run the heavy simulations, it is estimated that up to four times more computing power is needed than the European supercomputer Piz Daint, which houses over 5,000 copies of Nvidia’s Tesla P100. The operation is also expected to be really power-intensive, according to calculations, it can be up to 20 megawatts.

The project is part of the EU’s climate initiative to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and is part of a budget of 1 trillion euros. The technology will primarily be used by the EU, but will then eventually open up for wider use and accessibility internationally and in other sectors.

Exactly how the EU intends to get hold of the amount of graphics processors required remains to be seen, but with the prevailing component shortage, it is probably not about a near future. However, they have some time to figure it out – “Destination Earth” began in 2021, but has a schedule that spans the next 10 years.

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