Paris Marx

Data centers now consume 21% of all the electricity in Ireland, more than all the homes in its cities and towns combined. Cloud providers still want more.

This drive for ever-increasing computation serves no one but the bottom lines of major tech companies. It must be stopped.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/23/ireland-datacentres-overtake-electricity-use-of-all-homes-combined-figures-show

#tech #ai #datacenters #ireland #energy

Ireland’s datacentres overtake electricity use of all urban homes combined

Statistics raise concerns that rise in demand for data processing driven by AI could derail climate targets

The Guardian
Jul 24, 2024 at 6:56pmWeb
Show threadAlonJul 24, 2024
@parismarx That's about in line with the proportion of Irish GDP that's offshore tech corporate profits, so it just about checks out. Ireland can choose at any point to develop an economy based on things other than international tax dodging.
Show thread🌺 Cat PöñíçkøvāJul 24, 2024
@Alon @parismarx you can also read the statistics as a mere fifth of electrical generation capacity of one small eu nation is powering large part of the entire eu infrastructure, but that doesn't have that proper green nimbywash vibe
Show threadKennerJul 25, 2024
@parismarx if you live in Ireland and own a house, install some solar panels, they are very cheap, China is basically giving it away.
Do it before the price of electricity push the price up
Show threadEcomateJul 25, 2024

@parismarx It is not likely to stop or reduce the need for datacentres/AI so you need to force the tech companies to use 100% green energy sources like solar, wind, hydropower or where needed Nuclear power.

#climatechange #actnow #IT #AI

Show thread⛧⛧⛧J.d.B.⛧⛧⛧Jul 25, 2024
@parismarx they should build their own small nuclear reactors with the AI money. Small ones and make them cheaper for the rest of us too.
Show threadMax PetrasJul 25, 2024
@parismarx You forgot #Luddism as a Hashtag (:
Show threadKevin LydaJul 28, 2024

@parismarx Sigh. I live in Ireland and the datacentre hate is largely due to government seeking to blame others for their crap job running the country.

Transitioning from burning shit to an all-electric energy future, will reduce energy usage by over half but will triple electricity usage. We need to build out our grid and money from datacentres can help.

That means off and on shore wind; residential, commercial and agrisolar; and storage.

Show threadKevin LydaJul 28, 2024
@parismarx However the government has done very little to help this. It took ages to get FIT for residential solar. ESB regulations force the installs to be way smaller than they could be. My local primary school finally got a system installed but it only covers a fifth of a south face roof - and that's because the ESB limiting system size. Off shore wind has loads of missing regulations and permitting. And nothing is happening on agri-solar where the panels actually help crops and vice versa.
Show threadAlanna 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Jul 28, 2024
@lyda @parismarx Agreed. There are far more damaging things in this country than data centres. They are, however, a good scapegoat just like people arguing against the motorway system built over the last 20 years. It's sleight of hand to misdirect from the real problems, using arguments FFG used in the 90s and more perception of Ireland as a "mini USA" by trying to claim *all* problems here are a microcosm of US cultural hegemony and/or problems the US experienced in the 60s/70s/80s/90s.
Show threadAnders EknertAug 3, 2024

@lyda @parismarx > We need to build out our grid and money from datacentres can help.

How much money is that? I thought they built them there mainly to avoid taxes.

Show threadacute_distressAug 3, 2024
@anderseknert @lyda @parismarx I presume the data centers buy stuff like electricity and pay land tax etc.
Show threadKevin LydaAug 3, 2024
@anderseknert @parismarx There are a lot of reasons to build datacentres in Ireland besides taxes - which are now largely in line with the rest of Europe. Climate makes DC cooling rather cheap. Network topologically it's a good point between the EU and the US. If Ireland does sort out its grid, electricity should be cheap.
Show threadKevin LydaAug 3, 2024
@anderseknert @parismarx They pay for electricity - and will obviously lobby for policies to reduce those costs - in other words lobby for more solar and wind turbines on the grid. They pay salaries, land taxes and yes, even corporate taxes. All that can help make the grid more efficient/sustainable.
Show threadAnders EknertAug 3, 2024
@lyda @parismarx sure, but do you have any actual numbers to do that math? Here in Sweden Facebook promised thousands of jobs and a fuckton of good things to benefit the local community if they’d be allowed to build a data center in the north of the country. So they got the contract. A few years later it turns out they have 30 people employed there, and they’ve done fuck all to support the local community.
Show threadKevin LydaAug 4, 2024

@anderseknert @parismarx a data centre doesn't supply a lot of jobs to run them. Quite a few to build them and in fields needed for the energy transition - HVAC, plumbing, electrical. So it's a way to increase people in those fields.

In terms of funding, the main tax revenue would come from energy and land use.

Show threadIsaac FreemanAug 3, 2024

@parismarx
> This drive for ever-increasing computation serves no one but the bottom lines of major tech companies

Does it even serve them? My impression is that nobody has presented any coherent plan to recoup the investment.