Voters are concerned Big Tech is poised to take over energy and water supplies to fuel – and cool – Britain’s artificial intelligence and digital revolutions.
According to polling commissioned by Beyond Fossil Fuels and Global Action Plan, 78% of the UK electorate would only accept new data centres being built on domestic soil providing they were powered by renewables.
77% also wanted authorities to introduce policies which require new clean electricity sources to be built specifically to drive data facilities before they come online.
Further to this, seven-in-10 respondents reported being concerned about how data centres would affect their household water supply. Meanwhile, 80% believe companies running sites where information is stored should be transparent about overall environmental impact.
The numbers reflect wider concerns about the distribution of resources in Britain. 82% of voters want specific criteria put in place to determine how energy is prioritised across industries, sectors and services.
Public healthcare, agriculture and food, housing, residential services and national defence must be considered more important than data centres. In August, an analysis of planning applications revealed up to 100 new large scale information storage sites were due to come online across Britain in the next five years, adding to an existing 497 currently active sites.
‘This is a wake up call for policy makers in Europe pursuing a political agenda of rapid data centre expansion at all costs,’ said Jill McArdle, International Corporate Campaigner, Beyond Fossil Fuels. ‘Rather than supporting this agenda, people are worried about data centres’ unregulated growth stalling Europe’s energy transition, draining water resources and sending energy costs skyrocketing.
‘Their message to European leaders is clear: new data centres must not run on fossil fuels,’ she continued. ‘People want to see renewables powering data centres, or they do not want data centres built. But that’s not all, they do not want data centres jumping the queue for access to energy, ahead of households, public services and the electrification of European industries. It is time for Europe to stop pandering to Big Tech and start regulating data centres.’
Image: Taylor Vick / Unsplash
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