How to stop data centers from grabbing too much power

The useful part

The rapid expansion of data centers has become one of the most tangible expressions of the artificial intelligence revolution. Debate about their environmental, economic and social impact threatens their future development. Although the digital economy is often seen as weightless, every cloud service and AI application depends on massive physical infrastructure that takes up land, consumes energy, uses water and requires ever-increasing investment.

How it works

• International experience suggests that as the data center industry scales up, tensions emerge.
• In Ireland, data centers accounted for 21% of the country's electricity consumption in 2023 and could reach 32% this year.
• A Gallup poll found that 71% of Americans oppose data center construction in their local community.
• No surprise, then, that this is a source of growing political and public concern.
• Beyond concerns over energy and water consumption, evidence increasingly points to other unwelcome local effects.