‘Like a sneeze’: AI data centre boom spreads concern
Community and environmental groups have joined calls for data center approvals in Australia to be suspended while authorities determine the true impact of AI centres.
Sydney Water also repeated its warning that data centers could use a quarter of the city’s drinking water within a decade and infrastructure investment would need to increase to meet demand.
The warnings came during the third hearing of the case on Friday. NSW government data center investigationInformation was obtained from organizations including energy providers, local councils and business groups.
Australia has become the second-largest destination for data center investment globally as technology companies seek to meet demand for artificial intelligence tools.
But Carbon Zero Initiative strategy lead Alexander Hoysted said questions remained about electricity and water consumption and energy providers had little chance to assess their impact.
“It’s a little bit like sneezing; it starts slowly and then all of a sudden these problems come on the scene very quickly,” he said.
Despite claims data centers’ water consumption is exaggerated, Sydney Water chief executive Darren Cleary repeated the organisation’s prediction that data centers could use 25 per cent of the city’s potable water by 2035.
“Our forecasts reflect practices that are planned to continue, and there is clearly uncertainty as we approach that 10-year time frame,” he said.
“We have a major new industry developing in the west or greater Sydney that will add significant new demand to our system.”
Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner Solaye Snider said data centres’ commitments to renewable energy should also be closely scrutinized and a moratorium on approvals should be imposed until the industry had more certainty.
“Right now we need to focus especially on the largest and most energy-intensive proposals because we don’t have enough renewable energy,” he said.
“We also want to examine some of the claims made by data center operators and the data center lobby in this regard.”
Lane Cove Responsible Planning Group also called for a moratorium, while member Paul Trainor told the inquiry planning regulations were inadequate.
He said six data centers were planned for the Sydney suburb, including one 20 meters from homes and 160 meters from a school, despite concerns about noise and air pollution.
“If data centers are truly critical infrastructure, they should be planned to a much higher standard and not clustered next to homes, schools, recreation areas without statewide applicable planning rules and cumulative impact assessments,” he said.
Urban Development Institute of Australia chief executive Stuart Ayres said the new regulations should address concerns about water use, housing and cost recovery, but also give developers greater certainty.
“The issue of this inquiry is not whether NSW should host data centres, but whether it should,” he said.
“The question is whether they are planned, serviced and approved within a transparent, disciplined planning framework.”
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