News

As a public enquiry gets underway, today (Weds 11 December 2024) Global Action Plan, together with Foxglove, is objecting to a proposed data centre near Uxbridge, Buckinghamshire.

The Inquiry is taking place following the local authority’s rejection of Greystoke Land’s planning application twice. The Secretary of State, Angela Rayner has ordered a review of the appeals.

What is a data centre?

Data centres are large industrial warehouses full of computers. There are thousands of them globally and their number is increasing rapidly. The UK already has more than anywhere else in Western Europe and wants more.

Since the emergence two years ago of Generative AI tools like Chat GPT, there has been an explosion in demand for data centres because AI requires so much computing power: a query in Chat GPT requires about 10x the computing power than a Google search.

The proliferation of AI image- and video-creation software (often with significant societal harms) is further intensifying this demand. AI is not the only technology that requires data centres; much of today’s digital infrastructure depends on them. But AI is driving the surge in demand. 

What is the environmental impact of data centres? 

All those computers (servers and processors) require a lot of electricity. The current explosion of data centres and the anticipated growth has led to predictions that globally they will soon account for the same amount of power demand as that of Japan. 

In the UK, predicted power demand from data centres will increase 600% over the next decade. 

Because the computers are working so hard and running all the time, they get very hot and require constant cooling, requiring an enormous amount of water. With reports that the UK is already striking deals to import water from Norway there is worryingly little consideration of the ethics of creating such water-hungry infrastructure. 

Globally, tech firms are striking deals to divert water to their data centres in areas of severe water-scarcity, putting water-stressed local communities under more pressure. 

Why is Global Action Plan opposing the Woodlands Park data centre? 

All major developments should be considered in the context of the deepening climate crisis. Greystoke claims, without robust evidence, that data centres in fact help tackle climate change. 

But the massive electricity demands of the proposed data centre are not even mentioned, let alone mitigated, in their proposal. As such, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) was deemed not required, something Global Action Plan and Foxglove strongly contest. 

Glaring omission 

The documents refer to the significant electricity required to power the buildings, but not the equipment they house, i.e. the computers. That’s like considering the fuel required to make a car but not that needed to drive it. 

In fact it’s worse – the documents also make no mention of the emissions and resource use involved in constructing the 72,000m2, 18m tall development. 

More electricity than a medium-sized town 

Global Action Plan has decided to fill this gap. Using figures available in the development’s energy statement, our analysis suggests this data centre would use the same amount of electricity annually as 35,569 households. That’s slightly more than all the dwellings in Barrow-in-Furness, a town with a population of 55,489 people. For just one data centre.  

What does the Government think? 

The government wants to take planning decisions about data centres away from local authorities and into the ‘Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project’ (NSIP) regime., designed to streamline applications for large infrastructure.  

This has been backed up by supportive speeches from high profile figures such as the Chancellor Rachel Reeves and the courting of inward investment by firms such as AWS and Microsoft.  

However the previous Secretary of State rejected Greystoke’s application, principally on account of its impact on the greenbelt.  

Prioritising power 

Global Action Plan believes there needs to be far more scrutiny of the environmental impacts of data centres, and their societal benefits. 

The transition away from our fossil fuelled economy will require mass electrification of heating and transport in a way that has scarcely begun. This demand for electricity must be met by renewables in order to bring down emissions. 

Despite the government’s ambitious expansion of solar and wind, there is not limitless supply of clean power: we are going to have to prioritise. 

Ministers and planners at all levels must make informed decisions about the societal benefit of all power-hungry developments. The benefits of heating our homes and powering our vehicles are clear.

The benefits of AI – though much hyped by the tech companies – are unproven.