New UCC Research Reveals Alarming Impact of Data Centres on Climate Commitments

Campaigners Call for an Immediate Moratorium on Data Centre Expansion 

As negotiations regarding the Programme for Government begin, Friends of the Earth Ireland is calling on the Government to reconsider its position on the expansion of data centres and to respond to the policy recommendations in new expert research [1]. The research by Professor Hannah Daly [2], commissioned by Friends of the Earth, reveals a stark picture concerning the increased use of fossil fuels by data centres and how this rising consumption of gas by the industry is creating a blindspot in our climate action planning [3]. 

Professor Daly’s analysis also points to the injustice of the state’s data centre policy whereby data centres are diverting renewable energy to serve the industry’s growth, instead of reducing the national use of fossil fuels. Furthermore, this report shows how the emerging phenomenon of data centres plugging directly into the gas network puts Ireland at risk of vastly overshooting our carbon budgets. Friends of the Earth Ireland believes this research should be a wake up call to decision makers that we urgently need a moratorium on new data centres and the expansion of existing ones until a robust legislative framework is in place. Now is the time for decision makers to reconsider their stance, and ensure that climate action is prioritised in every sector, including technology. 

Hannah Daly, author of the report and Professor at University College Cork commented:

“The current trajectory of data centre demand is incompatible with Ireland’s climate commitments. Data centres are growing far faster than the renewable energy procured to meet their needs. 

 “Moreover, data centres are connecting to the natural gas network to get around constraints in the power network. This is prolonging Ireland’s dependency on fossil fuels and will make legally binding  carbon budgets unachievable. This underscores the need for policy interventions that ensure renewables displace fossil fuels rather than fuelling new demand.”

Rosi Leonard, Data Centre Campaigner with Friends of the Earth Ireland said:

“It is clear from this research that the sustainable and simultaneously unlimited growth of Data Centres is a myth. Soaking up 21% of our electricity supply and rising, we are at the coalface of a scenario where Big Tech is uncritically and incorrectly accepted as an unquestioned force for good despite evidence which shows that its unlimited expansion risks pumping far more pollution into our environment than previously thought. 

“The State’s policy of allowing unlimited data centre growth is like trying to fight climate breakdown and take fossil fuels out of homes with both hands tied behind our back.

“In order for Big Tech to describe itself as sustainable there would need to be evidence for renewables generation to outpace the growth of energy demand of data centres. But as Daly’s report shows, all of the wind energy generated in Ireland between 2017 and 2023 has been outpaced by data centre growth.

“Data Centres are also  increasing their gas consumption as their energy demand grows, building on-site gas generation, and applying for direct connection to the gas grid with seven data centres already plugged in and 22 more in the pipeline for direct gas connection.

“Ireland has allowed itself to become a data dumping ground for corporations like Amazon and Meta. This is creating stark inequalities in our energy system whereby data centres are hoovering up the limited clean energy that is currently deployed. In the same regions of Ireland in which Meta bought the entire electricity output of solar farms for their data centres, over 60% of homes are reliant on oil and solid fuels such as peat or coal. [4] We need a moratorium on data centres in Ireland now before this problem gets any worse.” 

Jerry Mac Evilly, Head of Policy in Friends of the Earth stated:

“This expert research completely blows out of the water the PR spin that data centres expansion is in any way sensible or sustainable on both climate and energy security grounds. They are adding more fuel to the fire and increasing reliance on fossil gas and the gas network. Our renewables revolution was planned to get our communities off polluting, expensive fossil fuels, not to myopically serve the unlimited expansion of one colossal industry.”

“When it comes to Programme for Government negotiations, political parties must support a pause on connecting more data centres until the proposed policy framework in this expert research has been implemented and the threats data centres pose to climate and security have been removed.”

ENDS

 

NOTES

1. The research report can be viewed in full here: https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/assets/files/pdf/data_centrres_and_the_carbon_budgets_-_prof_hannah_daly_dec_2024.pdf
   
   

2. Hannah Daly is a Professor in Sustainable Energy and Energy Systems Modelling at University College Cork. Her research and lecturing focus on modelling and developing sustainable pathways for the energy system, encompassing energy access, climate change and air pollution, and she engages extensively with policymakers, civil society and academia on those topics. As well as being a lead contributing author to several International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook reports, Hannah has co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and several book chapters and other reports.
   
   

3. Significant findings from the research include:

• Electricity demand from data centres has grown at an annual rate of almost 23% since 2015, compared to less than half a percent % for other sectors.

• Between 2017 and 2023, all additional wind energy generation was absorbed by data centres. As a result, renewables are not delivering net reductions in fossil fuels use in power generation.

• Dozens of data centres either have or are seeking connections to the natural gas network. The shift to on-site gas generation also transfers security risks to the gas network, creating vulnerabilities in an already constrained system and creating the risk of fossil fuel lock-in.

• Current energy demand and GHG projections underestimate the impact of gas demand, as emissions from on-site generation are not fully accounted for, creating a significant blind spot in Ireland’s climate action planning.

• Data centres are driving additional GHG emissions from both electricity and natural gas consumption, threatening carbon budgets.

• Electricity demand from data centres far outstripped additional renewable energy procured through Power Purchase Agreements in recent years.

• Biomethane has been proposed to reduce data centre emissions but the scale of data centre demand would exceed sustainable production and risks diverting resources from other sectors.

Policy recommendations include:

• Enforce strict power grid connection policies, requiring alignment with carbon budgets

• Enhance transparency, by mandating real-time GHG emissions reporting for data centres and improve data collection on gas usage and renewable energy procurement.

• Develop a national electrification strategy to accelerate the electrification of transport, industry and heating, ensuring that renewables primarily displace fossil fuels.

• Create a plan for the use of surplus renewable energy production that best serves climate and societal goals, that is not limited to serving data centre needs.
  
  

4. Based on CSO Household Fuel Mix data https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/hebeu/householdenvironmentalbehaviours-energyusequarter32021/ and Meta’s deal with Highfield Energy https://www.businesspost.ie/news/meta-buys-total-output-of-two-of-lrelands-largest-solar-farms