Germans worried about new data centres' environmental impact, favour clean power sources – survey

Most people in Germany only endorse the expansion of data centres if increasing energy demand can be met by renewable power sources, a survey commissioned by climate NGO Beyond Fossil Fuels (BFF) found. Two thirds (66%) of respondents said they agree with the statement that data centres should only be built if adequate renewable energy capacity is added to meet demand.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) applications and the associated expansion of computing capacity is set to come with higher energy and water demands. Germany’s federal network agency (BNetzA) expects data centres to consume up to ten percent of Germany’s electricity by 2037, up from around four percent today.

“Data centres are an important location factor, and AI offers great potential for accelerating processes and increasing productivity. However, climate targets must not be sacrificed for this,” renewable energy association (BEE) head Ursula Heinen-Esser said in response to the survey of over 5,000 individuals in five European countries.  

Across Europe, three out of four respondents said that data centres should be required to disclose their power consumption, energy sources and environmental impact. Seven out of ten said they favoured policies that prioritise access to electricity for different sectors, and over two thirds said they are concerned that data centre water consumption could affect their own water supply (69%) or that of surrounding ecosystems (75%).

“[Europeans] do not want data centres jumping the queue for access to energy, ahead of households, public services and the electrification of European industries,” said Jill McArdle from BFF.

Global electricity demand is set to skyrocket in the next decade, with AI-driven data processing becoming a key driver. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that global demand from data centres is set to more than double in the next five years. The European Commission has laid out a new Energy Efficiency Roadmap for data infrastructure in a bid to curb energy use.

Data centre operators in Germany are planning to build new fossil fuel power capacity to supply their operations, citing the slow pace of connecting to the electricity grid as a justification, according to a recent media report.