Activism against the accelerated growth of datacenters increases

Movements are growing around the world against the slowing growth of datacenters in the face of the accelerating expansion of Artificial Intelligence initiatives. These protests are becoming a global issue motivated by local activism, environmental and energy concerns and even investors’ views.

The phenomenon has even been given a special name in English – “NIMBYism” (Not In My Backyard) – and usually reflects the awareness and opposition of residents to the implications of building and operating datacenters in their areas.

An emblematic example of a wider movement, beyond residents, took place on 2 June in the US state of Virginia, considered the datacenter capital of the world. Community members and activists gathered to protest against the uncontrolled and damaging expansion of datacenters in the region. The event aimed to raise awareness of the growing threats posed by the explosive growth of datacenters and to call for a policy of protection from decision-makers.

According to the event’s organisers, Virginia currently has more than 300 operational datacenters and is already proposing the construction of new facilities. Today, these datacenters consume almost 25% of the energy supplied, and this demand is expected to double, which should increase electricity bills for Virginia families, as well as induce the construction of new fossil fuel plants, threatening the state’s climate advances and the public health of the justice communities.

Beyond the United States

In the UK, with the recent entry of the Labour Party into government, a scenario is already emerging in which restrictions on the planning of new datacenters will be relaxed, probably with an eye on international investment. However, with growing awareness of the impacts of the datacenter industry and its huge energy demand, this will need to be done in a way that doesn’t attract the antipathy of the community, which may begin to perceive datacenters as parasites that suck up natural resources.

In other European regions, datacenter projects have caused tension with local residents by overloading power grids and interfering with agricultural production. In the case of Portugal, they have even brought down members of government. In 2023, Prime Minister António Costa was forced to resign amid allegations of corruption related in part to a datacenter project. In the Netherlands, agricultural groups are fighting against the construction of new datacenters.

In Ireland, where datacenters are expected to account for 21% of total electricity consumption by 2023, welcoming this type of facility was initially accepted as a sign of investment, but it seems that attitude is changing as evidence of the impacts on the national electricity system, according to an article published on the Racounter website.

Ireland recently approved a partial moratorium on new datacenters, but projects are still being approved. Providers in Ireland have also started to apply for planning permission for their own fossil-fuelled energy infrastructures which, although they can help to reduce the burden on electricity grids, contribute to the country’s emissions.

What are the possible answers?

It’s clear that datacenters are not an evil figure and, on the contrary, are responsible for a large part of what residents benefit from in the form of a wide variety of digital services. However, some suggest that datacenter designers and operators can take action to convince communities of the good side of these facilities.

What are some of these initiatives? Consideration could be given to making datacenters quieter and more aesthetically appealing in the construction phase, as well as converting existing structures into datacenters rather than building new ones from scratch, thus helping to reduce environmental concerns. Ways can also be found to raise the energy and water sustainability levels of datacenter operations and look for ways to increase the employability of local residents in both the construction and operation phases of datacenters.