A new report shows the vast majority of tech hubs planned for Britain are in locations that can’t afford to spare a drop.
According to Global Action Plan, 84% of data centres currently proposed for the UK are in areas either classed as water stressed, or projected to be water stressed by 2040.
The majority of hubs that have already been built, and around half of those being planned, are in South East England — ranked amongst the most severely water stressed regions nationally and one of Europe’s drought hotspots.
Slough is particularly popular with tech companies, which have so far opened around 32 data centres in the town and with more under consideration. These include a 300MW gas-powered project which is being assessed for viability at a national level, rather than by the Local Planning Authority.
Global Action Plan’s report — which can be found in full here — also references estimates by Thames Water that under a high growth scenario, 30% of all new water demand in the area will soon come from data centres. This equates to around 270 million litres of water per day.
‘While households, farmers and local authorities are being urged to reduce water use and prepare for scarcity, the UK Government is rolling out the red carpet for one of the most water-intensive industries in the modern world,’ said Oliver Hayes, Head of Big Tech at Global Action Plan and one of the report authors. ‘Communities want a safe, affordable, and reliable water supply but are worried that horror stories from US data centres will be replicated here.
‘Big tech’s social licence is rapidly evaporating – the prospect of gargantuan chatbot factories monopolising tap water and draining rivers while the rest of us face hosepipe bans and increasing water bills will see it dry up forever,’ he continued. ‘The UK Government must prioritise people over Big Tech profits and put the brakes on its AI agenda until the damaging environmental impacts are addressed and the social usefulness – or otherwise – of this infrastructure is established.’
Image: İsmail Enes Ayhan / Unsplash
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