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Zack Polanski has called for a freeze on the approval of new data centres in England because of concerns about the amount of water and energy they use.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Green Party leader said the government should introduce stricter environmental rules and give communities more say on whether the centres are built in their area.<\/p>\n
Data centres can use significant amounts of water to cool their systems, although there are no official figures on how much water they consume in the UK.<\/p>\n
The government said a pause would lead to the UK losing investment and being dependent on overseas computing for sensitive data processing.<\/p>\n
A spokesman said: “It would be a disaster for jobs and national security.”<\/p>\n
There are hundreds of data centres in the UK \u2013 with plans for many more. <\/p>\n
Exact numbers are hard to find, but the BBC reported last year there were around 477.<\/p>\n
Many are clustered around London and the south of England \u2013 areas which are officially in drought at the moment.<\/p>\n
The amount of water data centres consume can change based on size, design and local climate – the hotter the area the more water needed to cool the equipment.<\/p>\n
Speaking on a visit to the site of a proposed data centre in East London, Polanski told the BBC: “We need to slam the brakes on these energy guzzling, water guzzling data centres. <\/p>\n
“Essentially, we need basically a moratorium other than local scale data centres for the local community.<\/p>\n
“At a time when three-quarters of the country are in drought, it is outrageous that these are being considered critical infrastructure. <\/p>\n
“To most people critical infrastructure means hospitals, water, electricity. It doesn’t mean Artificial Intelligence.”<\/p>\n
Data centres were classified as critical in 2024, meaning they get extra government support during incidents like cyber-attacks or extreme weather.<\/p>\n
The Greens argue this means they could get priority over households for water. The government said data centres would not automatically get priority during shortages.<\/p>\n
The BBC has also discovered that ministers have not carried out an environmental assessment on the impact of their “Delivering AI growth zones strategy”. <\/p>\n
A government official said it sees the paper as a statement of intent, rather than a formal policy moving towards implementation.<\/p>\n
Data centres in the UK do not currently have to report the amount of water they use. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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