- New data centers are being proposed across the UK
- These are crucial for AI development and usage, but have disastrous impacts on the environment
- Tech giants are calling for more expansion
The UK could be set for a major increase in the number of data centers across the country, as new reports claim a surge in building is set to commence.
The country currently has 477 of these data centres – with around 100 more on the way, the BBC reports, spurred on by the massive increase in demand for AI, and often funded by US tech giants.
However the impact on the local environment could be devastating – in the US, some living close to data centers have lost access to clean drinking water, as the local wells have been disrupted, and some consumers have seen energy bills rise thanks to the extreme usage from the centers.
The cloud costs
Data centers are essentially warehouses full of computer storage systems and IT infrastructure – and they are both financially costly and enormously energy and water consuming.
A medium sized data center is said to consume between roughly 110 million gallons of water per year in order to cool – and large centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day – but these data centers now receive advanced protections from the Government, after being designated critical national infrastructure.
Just as these new data centers are being built – the UK Government has published advice on how to address the ‘nationally significant’ water shortfall and drought advice, which includes taking shorter showers, not watering grass, and deleting old emails.
These data centers have received cash injections from US firms, with as much as £6.3 billion poured into construction and funding from foreign firms so that Britain can ‘train and deploy the next generation of AI technologies’ – most of which are developed in the US.
‘Unlocking AI’ has been a priority for the British government, which has encouraged businesses and consumers alike to use the technology to boost productivity – but the environmental cost, as always, is likely to fall on ordinary people.