Politicians engage with evidence of data centre impacts on Ireland’s fossil fuel dependence

Massive water use by data centres also highlighted amid public water restrictions

TDs from across all major political parties today (15 May) attended a briefing in the Leinster House Audio-Visual Room, to hear the findings of expert research [1] presented by Professor Hannah Daly on the implications of Data Centre expansion in Ireland. Published in December 2024, Professor Daly’s groundbreaking research, commissioned by Friends of the Earth, 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 use of fossil fuels nationally. Furthermore, this research shows how the emerging phenomenon of data centres plugging directly into the gas network puts Ireland at risk of vastly overshooting our carbon budgets. 

Professor Hannah Daly commented: 

“Energy demand from data centres is growing at breakneck speed, and renewables and the power grid can’t keep up. As a result, we are running just to stand still, and are forced to turn to fossil fuels to be able to keep the lights on, instead of transitioning to a clean and sustainable energy system."

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

“It is clear from this research that the sustainable and simultaneously unlimited growth of Data Centres is a myth. The Government’s hands-off approach to the industry has stretched our energy systems to near breaking point, and we are also now seeing strains on our water infrastructure in areas of large Data Centre development like Meath and West Dublin. As the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has shown, without limitations on the industry we will increasingly see a situation where housing targets and public services will be competing with Data Centres for basic resources [2].” 

“This research should serve as a wake up call to Government: it is now essential to impose a moratorium on both new data centres and on the expansion of existing ones until a robust legislative and regulatory framework with limits on data centre connections and data centre emissions is in place. Friends of the Earth calls on the Government to ensure that renewables are developed for public good rather than captured by private data centre developments. Now is the time for decision makers to reconsider their stance, and ensure that climate action is prioritised in every sector, including technology.” 

Seán McLoughlin, Climate Policy Campaigner with Friends of the Earth said:

“Despite commitments made by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Regional Independents in the new Programme for Government to ‘guide the development of data centre infrastructure in alignment with our decarbonisation objectives,’ Professor Daly’s research highlights how the industry has been allowed to do the opposite: increasing its use of fossil fuels and creating a blindspot in our climate action planning through direct connection to the gas network.”

“The immediate and present danger of overshooting our legally-binding climate obligations [3] makes these findings all the more timely. Since its publication, the new Government has failed to respond to this evidence, with Data Centres consuming 21% of our national electricity supply. Given the energy regulator is currently ‘passing the buck’ with a proposal which fails to  mandate emission reductions by data centres [4], Ireland continues to stride headlong into fossil fuel dependency.”

ENDS