Data centre, AI lobbying shaping Canberra’s climate policy

Here is something you don’t know.

The original advice to the Australian government for the 2035 emission target of climate change authority (CCA) was between 65% and 75%. He pulled it back yesterday 62% to 70% (A goal adopted by the government). Energy Analyst Dylan McConnell discovered One of the main reasons is embedded documents:

We proposed a lower limit that allows the internal uncertainty of our analysis and transition risks (eg strong data center growth)… The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and data centers provides significant increases in electricity demand, which contributes to higher emissions than expected and makes it a more ambitious target to meet.

As I wrote before Cirikey, The growth of data centers in Australia has already a material, physical effect on the tempo of the energy transition. The total demand has been increasing for half a ten years and this ratio itself, which is directed by data centers, is increasing.

However, the fact that CCA’s transition to a weaker climate target advice shows that it does not only affect the present, but also changes the future. This must be great news, but it won’t. In Australia, there is a strange examination of data center growth. Some of the reason seems to be the effect of attitudes like Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Lately piece for Guardian AustraliaChalmers wrote:

If some estimates are correct, AI can be the most transformative technology in human history. At best, it will transform energy to analysis and higher productivity into higher living standards.

Chalmers takes care to talk about risk losses, disinformation and inequality from the use of machine learning systems. It is also specifically forced on energy, water and ultimately rising carbon emissions. However, he rejects: “We are in a good position to manage risks and maximize opportunities ız Our agenda will be the key to this from the capacity investment plan to the future in Australia.”

If CCA has to reduce national climatic goals in an important part for data center growth, it shows that Chalmer’s “important agenda” vision is not close enough to be carried out without causing major climate damage.

Thanks to the painted picture of unlimited renewable energy growth, the speech point, which is a barely concerned concern of data centers – is a globally seen from the corporate sustainability reports of major technology companies. It has the uncertain atmosphere of the lobbyist-consumption: the aesthetics of good technology and solid morality, but absolutely zero substance.

In the US, the coalitions designed to lobby against data centers and machine learning systems are tremendously swinging. Usually this effect is hidden by a combination of NDAs and lack of state transparency. Ciikey’s The partners who reported as part of the invisible hand of the Big Tech investigation.

In Australia, most of the lobby efforts of Big Tech to date have focused on information and users such as lobby or young social media bans in the discussion of the media bargaining code. Recently, Chalmers’s major business “round table” included a large lobby groups coalition, which indefinitely pointing to the deregulation of data center construction, which reflects similar hand shaking in England and the United States.

But the lobby of Australia register It reveals that large data center companies have rented lobbyists to file a lawsuit.

A business name often emerges: Tim Marshall Consultancy (TMA or “TM Consultation”). Marshall He was a senior man with former senator Stephen Conroy, and he also worked at NBN Co. Airtung, Amazon Web Services, CDC and Nextdc, an important player when the coalition of an important data center operators offers themselves to the government and the public.

Since the data center lobbyists are almost entirely focused on energy and infrastructure, you can get an idea for the narrative in TMA’s latest works. A submission On behalf of these four customers, the Australian Energy Markets Commission emphasizes the economic benefits of data center expansion, while its growth is easily met by new renewable energy. There is no clear data that the power purchasing agreements signed by data center developers are mentioned, but why this does not accelerate Australia’s renewable energy growth beyond the current scanning.

There is also the claim that data centers can work as a flexible burden.

In October 2024, Big Four Data Center Companies (plus Microsoft) Mandala Partners report The alleged benefits of data center growth for Australia. In this document, they solve a collection of power purchasing agreements conducted by data center companies in Australia. However, all the agreements mentioned up to 530 megawatt adds. About 4,300 megawatt Renewable energy sources made financial commitments in Australia in 2024.

This is awake analysis Irish researcher Hannah Daly, which shows only 16% of the data center growth in Ireland, was matched with renewable power purchase agreements. “The data center demand has grown six times faster than the new projects financed by [corporate power purchasing agreements]and 15 times faster than electricity from all other sources – houses, vehicles, industry ”.

The purpose of lobbying from this early stage and data center operators is to actually position themselves as a critical gear in Australia renewable energy growth. structure A critical gear in Australia’s renewable energy growth. If the industries start to bubble the new clean energy ratio many times, we’ll see the barred teeth and fur raised fur, as elsewhere.

Ireland is a great example of what Australia’s close future can resemble, when things become more established. Data Center expansion of the country while absorbing the grill dry, operators fluttering Desperate for tons of fossil methane to connect directly to dirty gas networks, to feed insatiable hunger. Amazon’s lobby explanations Endless in Ireland.

Peter Lantry, President of Equinix’s Irish operations, is at the Southern Dublin District Council Climate Committee; A region that is shaken by data centers. In the United States, Google lowers the green washing hose and turns it on a full scale overnight Maga madness. Meta’s benefits that provide large special fossil fuel power plants, left the close -term climate with breeze targets.

Both energy facilities and AI companies like to reflect large steep energy consumption in the near future for data centers, and will almost never happen. However, the acute effect of these estimates is to trigger excessive investment in fossil fuel infrastructure such as gas pipelines and electrical power plants. Jim Chalmers will be able to sell a happy clean technology tone whispering in his ear for a long time. After the mood has changed, Australia will catch the rest of the world: a great technology industry that has no problem in allowing the world to burn.