Green Party leader Zack Polanski calls for data centre freeze in England; says they 'guzzle' energy, water

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called for a freeze on approvals for new data centres in England, arguing that the rapidly expanding industry is putting pressure on water and energy supplies.Polanski said the government should introduce tougher environmental requirements for data centres and give local communities a greater say over whether new facilities are built in their areas. He made the comments while visiting the site of a proposed data centre in East London.“We need to slam the brakes on these energy guzzling, water guzzling data centres,” Polanski told the BBC.He called for a moratorium on new developments, apart from smaller facilities serving local communities. Polanski also criticised the government's decision to classify data centres as critical infrastructure, saying the designation was inappropriate while much of the country was experiencing drought.“At a time when three-quarters of the country is in drought, it is outrageous that these are being considered critical infrastructure,” he said. “To most people critical infrastructure means hospitals, water, electricity. It doesn't mean Artificial Intelligence.”Data centres were designated as critical infrastructure in 2024. The classification provides them additional government support during incidents such as cyber-attacks and extreme weather.The Green Party has argued that the designation could allow data centres to receive priority over households for water during shortages. The government has rejected that suggestion, saying data centres would not automatically receive priority when water supplies are under pressure.The debate comes as England has hundreds of data centres, with many more planned. The BBC last reported that there were about 477 in the country.A large proportion are concentrated in London and the south of England, including areas that are currently officially classified as being in drought.Water consumption varies between data centres depending on factors including their size, cooling systems, design and local climate. Facilities in hotter areas generally require more water to cool their equipment.There is currently no requirement for UK data centres to report how much water they consume. However, the Water Research Centre consultancy estimated in February that data centres in England use about 1.9 billion litres of drinking water each year. That represents roughly 0.2% of the non-household water market.The consultancy said there was a “clear upward trend” in data centre water use.The Party has also cited research by environmental charity Global Action Plan, which estimated that large data centres could consume as much as 1.5 million litres of water a day.Polanski and the Greens want new data centres to be built on brownfield sites and close to renewable energy sources so that they can use renewable power where possible. They are also calling for operators to publish annual figures showing how much water and electricity their facilities consume.The industry's representatives have disputed the suggestion that data centres are placing an undue burden on local water supplies.Mark Acton, executive director of the Data Centre Alliance, said data centres were not taking water away from local communities and used less water than leisure centres and golf courses.Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Acton said obtaining planning permission for data centres was already “very difficult”, including in areas designated as AI growth zones.“Data centres are not just AI, data centres run our lives... social media runs through data centres, our banking systems run through data centres,” he said. “We depend on these things massively.”The government has opposed Polanski's proposed freeze, warning that halting new developments could affect investment, employment and national security.A government spokesperson said a pause would “simply send investment and good jobs abroad” and leave Britain dependent on overseas computing to process sensitive health and defence data.“Put simply: it would be a disaster for jobs and national security,” the spokesperson said.The government also said its support for data centres did not amount to an unconditional approval of every proposed development.“That said, this does not mean a blank cheque for Big Tech or that every data centre should be approved,” the spokesperson said.“Developers must plan to use clean power, use water responsibly, create British jobs and supply chains, and provide investment to the communities in which they are built.”The government has also pointed to water lost through leaks, saying roughly a fifth of the country's water supply is lost in this way.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.