The Danger of Data Centres

Image: Google Data Centre in Hertfordshire

by

Steve Andrews

---

As if we didn’t already have more than enough dangers to biodiversity and life on this planet, a new one has been added: the development of data centres. The AI boom is causing a demand for more and more of these to be built. Landscapes and green countryside are being sacrificed to power Chatbots, and everywhere AI is rising up to take over our lives.

It isn’t only the destruction of green belt areas, forests and farmland that is at stake. Vast amounts of water are used for cooling purposes, and huge quantities of electricity are consumed in the running of these places. Water has become an increasingly valuable commodity. This is crazy in itself because many parts of the world have experienced extreme flooding, while others roast in heatwaves, record temperatures and drought. If all of that wasn’t terrible enough, in the UK, all rivers are polluted to varying degrees, lakes too, and coastal waters are often no longer safe due to sewage. Elsewhere there’s a shortage of domestic water and residents are forced to rely on the bottled variety, as happened in Whitstable recently.

Like housing developments that are bulldozing green belt areas of the UK, and destroying wildlife habitats and beauty spots, despite protest campaigns by local people, the same is now taking place due to the building of data centres. There are already 530 in what is left of the British countryside.

Data Centres in Kent

There are currently no plans for a data centre in Whitstable, but other parts of Kent are already seeing them. There is the Custodian Data Centre in Maidstone, the Sota 810 Datacentre and the Sota F25 Datacentres in Sittingbourne, The Bunker Data Centre in Sandwich, and the Vinter’s Connect in Maidstone. As I write this, I see there are plans for a new data centre next to the Shelford Landfill in Canterbury. And so it goes. Coming soon to where you live, a brand new data centre!

Despite the lack of a data centre in Whitstable, the town has strong connections with the industry. Global Commissioning (headquartered at Radio House, John Wilson Business Park, Whitstable) is a key player in data centre commissioning, as well as project management. Besides the UK, they also work across the EU, and elsewhere in the world.

In Scotland and Ireland too

In other parts of the UK, local people are voicing their objections to data centre plans. In Scotland, Fife villagers are protesting against the ILI Group’s Cato Data Centre. This 600-megawatt facility is said to be bigger than the village of Auchtertool it is being planned for. It is said that it will occupy 62 acres of farmland, and energy demand to power the place will be equivalent to that used by 1.34 million Scottish households, or half of Scotland’s energy usage.

In Ireland, where there are 121 data centers, there have been protests, both about data centres and the rocketing cost of fuel bills. Environmental organisation Friends of the Earth have added their voice to the campaign. FOE claims that Irish householders paid an estimated 715  million euros more for electricity between 2015 and 2023. The organisation says that the use of electricity is projected to rise from 22% to 30% by 2030. For more info see:

Datacenters in America

Over in America it is even worse. In an article on 13 May, The Guardian reported about the Stratos AI Datacenter. It will cover 40,000 acres in Box Elder County in north-west Utah. The State has already been hit badly by drought, and it is said that even the Great Salt Lake will be under threat from the vast amounts of water needed for this new centre.

These data centres make even more money for the already very wealthy. Venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary is behind the Stratos AI data centre.

Also in the US, environmental activist Erin Brockovich has set up a project called the Brockovich Data Center Reporting—https://www.brockovichdatacenter.com/—to track the spread of these centres across America. Brockovich also points out that these centres generate a lot of E-Waste from continued upgrades of hardware, as well as causing a real nuisance from the constant humming of the cooling systems and generators. This noise can disrupt the sleep of local people living near a data centre, and disturb wildlife.

Is there a solution?

So what can we do about all these data centres and the threats they bring with them? My answer is to take part in local campaign groups if there are any. Set one up if there aren’t. Sign petitions, join protests, take whatever action you can. Like so many serious problems in the world today we can reduce the harm being done.

The more of us that take action the better!

---

---

Steve Andrews

Also known as The Green Bard, Bard of Ely, and Green Beard, Steve is an iconic figure who has featured in books, on radio and television, and also in film. He is, in his own right, a musician, a writer, a lifelong environmental activist, a sometime television presenter, a poet, a Britain’s Got Talent feature act, and a champion fighting against climate change, the destruction of trees, and plastic pollution. His power animal is the butterfly, several species of which Steve rears and nurtures in his spare time. Steve is based in the UK and Portugal, but has fans all over the world. https://www.bardofely.org/

WEBSITES:

https://steveandrews.info/https://linktr.ee/steveandrews
https://www.instagram.com/bardofely/https://bardofely.bandcamp.com
https://www.reverbnation.com/bardofelyhttps://www.facebook.com/TheBardofEly/
https://twitter.com/bardofely

BOOKS: Herbs of the Northern Shaman, Herbs of the Sun, Moon and Planets, Herbs of the Southern Shaman, Earth Spirit: Saving Mother Ocean (all by Moon Books)

PUBLICATIONS: Big Issue Cymru, SWND, Kindred Spirit, MyHerbs, Permaculture, Welsh Coastal Life, Celtic Life International, Mediterranean Gardening and Outdoor Living, Bee Culture The Magazine of American Beekeeping, National Federation of Occupational Pensioners, Prediction, and Living Tenerife magazines, Tenerife News, Tenerife Weekly and the Tenerife Sun newspapers, as well as the Huffington Post, Whitstable Views, Tripedia and Ancient Origins websites.

---

Whitstable Views

How to use it!

1. Make sure you share and like our articles on Facebook and Twitter/X, and whatever other social-media platforms you use. Join us on Facebook here: @whitstableviews
2. You can read and contribute articles for free but in order not to miss any, please subscribe to get regular free updates.
3. To do so, press the “Subscribe” icon on the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This will take you to the option to sign up. (It disappears as you move the text down then reappears at you move it back again!)
4. Please engage by leaving comments on the website, rather than on social media. Let’s get a debate going. All our contributors welcome the chance to engage with YOU.
5. To all writers out there, we want to hear YOUR views too, so do submit your own articles. Read our submissions page on how to do this: https://whitstableviews/submissions/
6. Finally, to keep Whitstable Views alive and independent please donate if you feel able to do so. As little as £1 would help. Details are on the donations page here: https://whitstableviews.com/donate