Data Centres are enormous eyesores, but is it time Havering take the lead in tackling the climate crisis as creatively as possible?
Local climate campaigner and Quaker Ruth Kettle-Frisby today writes on the building of a Data Centre on Greenbelt land in Havering.
The Data Centre proposed in North Ockendon is understandably being strongly contested by residents, local environment groups and politicians.
Data Centres are enormous, an eyesore, they need a lot of power to run, and a lot of power to cool. To add insult to injury, this one is proposed to be built in Greenbelt land – land that acts as a geographic boarder and is supposed to stay green and untouched by development.
Havering Council are being accused of pushing for the new Data Centre in Upminster purely for the money. I don’t doubt it; Local Authorities across Britain are being chronically underfunded by central government, and in a flirtation with the farcical, Havering actually took out a government loan to avoid bankruptcy.
Havering Council are claiming the Data Centre will bring in jobs, which local IT professionals in the area find highly unlikely: they largely run themselves except for highly specialised experts, but most maintenance work will happen remotely.
I do, however, have the following concerns:
1. The principle:
‘The cloud’ is a misleading concept. Those of us who depend on our phones – but don’t fully understand their technology or environmental impact would be forgiven for taking thus literally! But alas, data is not stored nebulously in the air. It is stored in Data Centres. If we as are going to continue using data – including files on our apps and laptops, and reams of undeleted photos on our mobile phones – we need somewhere to store it.
2. Taking responsibility for our carbon footprint
Currently Ireland is bearing the brunt of our data storing behaviour: Ireland “houses a hugely disproportionate amount [of Data Centres] and they are undermining our climate targets and our sustainable use of water and renewable energy” (https://www.pbp.ie/people-before-profit-bill-to-ban-further-data-centres/).
If we care about climate justice, we need to take responsibility; not expect poorer places – like areas in Ireland doing more than their fair share – to shoulder the burden.
Conclusion:
I completely empathise with my friends and neighbours who oppose the Data Centre, however as a Quaker, my main concern is social justice. Data Centres are a consequence of the way we live: if it’s true that (unlesswe radically change our behaviour) Data Centres are here to stay, perhaps it is up to us in Havering to shoulder a fraction of that responsibility while investing our energy into demanding its sustainable running.
This Data Centre could represent the thin end of the wedge for urban planning that is eroding opportunities to nurture greenbelt land; or it could be an opportunity for Havering to take the lead in tackling the climate crisis as creatively as possible, using local, renewable energy sources to sustainably run and cool the Data Centre for our continued data usage.
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