People Before Profit's Tipperary representative calls for ban on more data centres
Climate targets could be 'thrown out the window'
Following reports from Wind Energy Ireland that Ireland risks missing its climate targets due to a shortfall in wind energy generation, People Before Profit Tipperary’s representative, Anne Condon has said that any additional data centre development in this country would be contrary to our climate targets, especially in a climate emergency.
She pointed out that with the planned expansion of the data centre sector and development in this country, Ireland would be further locking itself into reliance on fossil fuels for other sectors because of the amount of renewable energy capacity that the data centres would demand.
She called on the government, and especially the Green Party, to support the People Before Profit Planning and Development (Climate Emergency Measures) (Amendment) Bill, which would ban the construction of any more additional data centres in this country while we are in a climate emergency, and while carbon in the atmosphere registers as over 350 parts per million.
Anne Condon said: “The report from Wind Energy Ireland shows that we risk missing our climate targets due to a lack of renewable wind generation capacity. The addition of data centres on top of this demand would throw our climate goals out the window.
“The existing 70 data centres in this country consume 11% of entire electricity output and 30 are planned, with another eight under construction. This additional burden on the energy system is completely unsustainable and would also present massive problems for us in terms of blackouts for ordinary people and businesses.
"Anything other than full support for this bill from the Greens would represent a betrayal of the climate movement and an abandonment of Ireland’s climate targets and obligations.”