What are AI datacentres doing to local communities?
The growth in hyperscale data centres is creating intense pressure on energy and water resources around the world. How will it affect us in London?
Join Climate Action Lewisham with tech justice non-profit Foxglove to discuss the impact of AI data centres on Thursday 29 January, 8pm. See Salamander's Events.
AI's soaring demands for power and water are writing off all the hard-won efficiency and green gains that were made in the tech sector over the last decade.
The days when big tech strived to be greener, building out clean energy and conscientiously working to improve the efficiency of each data centre, now seem quaint.
Much of our AI use (which is now embedded within most search options, whether we want it or not) is running in the US, where many data centres have reverted to using coal.
In the UK, the number of data centres is due to increase by around a fifth to meet the increased demand according to BBC figures.
Over half of the planned data centres will be in or near London.
The government designates data centres "critical national infrastructure", which means that it can overrule councils which refuse plans for a new data centre.
The operators, mainly US tech giants such as Google and Microsoft, are not required to include data about energy use as part of the UK planning application.
But communities around the world are feeling the impact of data centres on their energy and water supplies, and in some cases, where coal or gas power plants are fired up again, increases in air pollution.
Dublin data centre using same power as 200,000 homes
In Ireland, data centres already use 20% of the country's electricity and they are expected to use nearly a third of the supply by 2030.
The Irish Times has reported an internal government document showing that a Dublin data centre uses the same power as 200,000 homes.
Friends of the Earth Ireland say that the increase in data centres has completely offset the climate gains from increasing clean, renewable energy.
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In many countries, the extra demand from AI is being provided by fossil fuel plants that would have been retired as stranded assets, including coal plants in the US and India.
Analysis showed US power demand and climate emissions growing in 2025, despite a huge growth in solar energy. Part of that increased demand was data centre growth.
The UN rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water has called for a moratorium on new data centres.
A coalition of over 230 US environmental groups has demanded a national moratorium (republished in Salamander here).
Tech justice non-profit Foxglove has launched the UK's first legal challenge against the construction of a hyperscale data centre and are raising concerns about its power demands, water use and environmental impact.
Join Climate Action Lewisham with Foxglove to discuss the impact of AI data centres on Thursday 29 January, 8pm. See Salamander's Events.
