A new and startling report has shed light on the growing number of data centers in Ireland and how their energy consumption is at its peak.
Thanks to the Central Statistics Office, more insights were shared on how the need to fulfill their electricity demands is setting out to be a challenge for the nation. The demand is more than that consumed by urban homes combined and official figures were highlighted to better understand the severity of the matter.
Today, close to 21% of electricity is used and that’s the equivalent of a fifth of an increase seen in 2022. This was the first time that we’ve witnessed data centers in the Irish world of tech go above the demand used by homes in both cities as well as towns. The latter consumed 18% in 2023.
This is why experts are now ringing alarm bells against this finding and how the massive surge in demand for these data centers could be troublesome for several reasons. One of those has to do with the impact that it could have in terms of derailing climate targets in that part of the world.
Let’s not forget how some of the biggest companies in the world including Google have data centers in this region of Europe. The Android maker issued a statement on this front in 2023 where it highlighted how such actions were putting its own climate goals of a green environment at risk after causing a 48% rise in overall emissions in 2023 when compared to data rolled out in 2019.
The growing demand for processing data at these centers is also partly due to a growing rise in the AI phenomenon. This might lead to such locations eating up close to 31% of the country’s electricity sources by 2027 as per reports published by the Irish National Energy & Climate Plan.
This could eclipse the electricity demands of the Irish urban and rural residences which combine to make up 28% of the total power demand seen last year. Similarly, it would increase pressure on other tech firms to make more investments in terms of curating renewable supplies for energy.
The rise in data centers in this region and the growing number of tech firms is also fuelled party of the country’s own policy for corporate taxation which is very low.
A top research fellow at the College Cork University spoke to Irish examiners about how having unlimited sources of solar and wind would better combat the matter. But right now, the country is mostly putting reliance on using fossil fuels so this necessitates the demand for coming up with better renewable sources quickly.
If only Ireland was quicker to develop renewables than it is to come up with data centers, the issue wouldn’t be present to begin with, he continued.
Image: DIW-AIgen
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Thanks to the Central Statistics Office, more insights were shared on how the need to fulfill their electricity demands is setting out to be a challenge for the nation. The demand is more than that consumed by urban homes combined and official figures were highlighted to better understand the severity of the matter.
Today, close to 21% of electricity is used and that’s the equivalent of a fifth of an increase seen in 2022. This was the first time that we’ve witnessed data centers in the Irish world of tech go above the demand used by homes in both cities as well as towns. The latter consumed 18% in 2023.
This is why experts are now ringing alarm bells against this finding and how the massive surge in demand for these data centers could be troublesome for several reasons. One of those has to do with the impact that it could have in terms of derailing climate targets in that part of the world.
Let’s not forget how some of the biggest companies in the world including Google have data centers in this region of Europe. The Android maker issued a statement on this front in 2023 where it highlighted how such actions were putting its own climate goals of a green environment at risk after causing a 48% rise in overall emissions in 2023 when compared to data rolled out in 2019.
The growing demand for processing data at these centers is also partly due to a growing rise in the AI phenomenon. This might lead to such locations eating up close to 31% of the country’s electricity sources by 2027 as per reports published by the Irish National Energy & Climate Plan.
This could eclipse the electricity demands of the Irish urban and rural residences which combine to make up 28% of the total power demand seen last year. Similarly, it would increase pressure on other tech firms to make more investments in terms of curating renewable supplies for energy.
The rise in data centers in this region and the growing number of tech firms is also fuelled party of the country’s own policy for corporate taxation which is very low.
A top research fellow at the College Cork University spoke to Irish examiners about how having unlimited sources of solar and wind would better combat the matter. But right now, the country is mostly putting reliance on using fossil fuels so this necessitates the demand for coming up with better renewable sources quickly.
If only Ireland was quicker to develop renewables than it is to come up with data centers, the issue wouldn’t be present to begin with, he continued.
Read next:
• Apple Rolls Out New Web Interface For Apple Maps With More Exciting Features To Arrive Soon
• Social Media Supremacy: This New Survey Shows Which Apps Are Winning Users’ Hearts
