System Change Webinar Series

Join us in examining some of the most pressing climate justice and energy issues we are facing against the backdrop of the upcoming Irish EU Presidency. Discover some of the solutions and ways we can embed hope into our activism to sustain us in our continued efforts towards building a just and sustainable future for people and the planet.

First webinar in the series: The Cost of Data Centres in Ireland

When: Wednesday, June 10th, 7pm 

Who: Rosi Leonard and Dr. Seán Fearon (+ guest,TBC)

Power-guzzling data centres now consume over 22% of our electricity in Ireland. Their impact on our energy system, as well as our water and our environment, has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. But what about the toll they take on our energy bills? With energy poverty on the rise and Ireland’s reliance on imported fossil gas leaving it at the mercy of global price shocks, what do data centres have to do with rising energy prices? 

In this webinar, we’ll take a deep dive into the cost of data centres on our electricity bills; why data centres are fast becoming a cost of living issue, and what needs to change so that we can build the clean and just energy system that we all deserve. This webinar will kick-off our System Change Seminar Series. 

Join us to hear from Dr. Seán Fearon, author of the research,“The Cost of Data Centres: Modelling the Household Electricity Costs of Ireland’s Data Centre Sector”, commissioned by Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels. We will examine some of the outcomes of the research which found that data centres drained an estimated €715 million from households in Ireland through their impact on electricity bills over the last 10 years. We will discuss how this impact could get worse in the future if nothing changes, what this has to do with our reliance on fossil gas, and what needs to happen next to tackle this. This webinar will run for 60 minutes with time for questions and answers. 

We will be announcing upcoming events for the Summer System Change Webinar Series soon - REGISTER NOW and get an update to your email with further details to follow. 

Funding acknowledgement

This event has been organised thanks to the financial support of our funder Irish Aid as part of our wider System Change Seminar Activity in our Global Citizenship Education Project.