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Ireland's datacentres overtake electricity use of all urban homes combined

Statistics raise concerns that rise in demand for data processing driven by AI could derail climate targets

Experts have raised concerns that the sudden surge in power demand driven by datacentres could derail climate targets in Ireland and across Europe. Google, which has based its European headquarters in Ireland, said earlier this month that its datacentres risked delaying its green ambitions after driving a 48% increase in its overall emissions last year compared with 2019. Ireland relied on fossil fuels for more than 50% of its electricity last year, of which 45% was generated by gas plants and the remainder from burning coal, peat or oil.

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