Data centre energy use undermining efforts to achieve climate action plan targets
Research commissioned by Friends of the Earth has exposed a stark picture concerning the increased use of fossil fuels by data centres and how rising consumption of gas by the industry is creating a blindspot in climate action planning.
The report by Prof Hannah Daly, a professor in sustainable energy and energy systems modelling at UCC, found that electricity demand from data centres has grown at an annual rate of almost 23% since 2015, compared to less than half a percent for other sectors.
The state’s climate action plan set a target of a by 51% reduction in emissions by 2030 and to have 80% of the national electricity supply created by renewables by 2030. This includes a target of 15% of electricity demand to be delivered by corporate power purchase agreements – long-term contracts where businesses contribute to the development of renewable energy facilities based on expected needs.
Electricity demand from data centres, however, has outstripped additional renewable energy procured through such power purchase agreements.
Prof Daly’s analysis showed how the emerging phenomenon of data centres plugging directly into the gas network puts Ireland at risk of vastly overshooting our carbon budgets. Friends of the Earth Ireland said the research should be a wake up call to decision makers that we urgently need a moratorium on new data centres and the expansion of existing ones until a robust legislative framework is in place.
Prof Daly said: “The current trajectory of data centre demand is incompatible with Ireland’s climate commitments. Data centres are growing far faster than the renewable energy procured to meet their needs.
“Moreover, data centres are connecting to the natural gas network to get around constraints in the power network. This is prolonging Ireland’s dependency on fossil fuels and will make legally binding carbon budgets unachievable. This underscores the need for policy interventions that ensure renewables displace fossil fuels rather than fuelling new demand.”
Rosi Leonard, data centre campaigner with Friends of the Earth Ireland, said: “It is clear from this research that the sustainable and simultaneously unlimited growth of data centres is a myth. Soaking up 21% of our electricity supply and rising, we are at the coalface of a scenario where Big Tech is uncritically and incorrectly accepted as an unquestioned force for good despite evidence which shows that its unlimited expansion risks pumping far more pollution into our environment than previously thought.
“The State’s policy of allowing unlimited data centre growth is like trying to fight climate breakdown and take fossil fuels out of homes with both hands tied behind our back.
“In order for Big Tech to describe itself as sustainable there would need to be evidence for renewables generation to outpace the growth of energy demand of data centres. But as Daly’s report shows, all of the wind energy generated in Ireland between 2017 and 2023 has been outpaced by data centre growth.
“Data centres are also increasing their gas consumption as their energy demand grows, building on-site gas generation, and applying for direct connection to the gas grid with seven data centres already plugged in and 22 more in the pipeline for direct gas connection.
“Ireland has allowed itself to become a data dumping ground for corporations like Amazon and Meta. This is creating stark inequalities in our energy system whereby data centres are hoovering up the limited clean energy that is currently deployed. In the same regions of Ireland in which Meta bought the entire electricity output of solar farms for their data centres, over 60% of homes are reliant on oil and solid fuels such as peat or coal. We need a moratorium on data centres in Ireland now before this problem gets any worse.”
Jerry Mac Evilly, head of policy in Friends of the Earth, said: “This expert research completely blows out of the water the PR spin that data centres expansion is in any way sensible or sustainable on both climate and energy security grounds. They are adding more fuel to the fire and increasing reliance on fossil gas and the gas network. Our renewables revolution was planned to get our communities off polluting, expensive fossil fuels, not to myopically serve the unlimited expansion of one colossal industry.
“When it comes to Programme for Government negotiations, political parties must support a pause on connecting more data centres until the proposed policy framework in this expert research has been implemented and the threats data centres pose to climate and security have been removed.”
TechCentral Reporters
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers