Mega data centres in bed with big gas: how fossil fuels are powering the AI boom
6/7/202617 min
Right now, AI data-centre mega-hubs as large as 350 hectares are being planned across Australia – that’s the equivalent of 175 MCG playing fields.
And the energy they need to fuel them is just as huge: more than the total output of an entire coal plant.
The solution? So-called “shadow grids” built in partnership between the data centres and big gas, where gas-fired power plants are placed directly on site, powering the centres and generating huge emissions in the process.
Today, Ketan Joshi, climate expert and co-author of a new Greenpeace report, on the relationship between fossil fuel companies and data centres, and Australia’s vulnerability in the AI race.
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Guest: Climate expert Ketan Joshi
Photo: REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
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First 90 secondsRuby Jones· Host0:00
[gentle music] I'm Ruby Jones, and you're listening to 7AM. Right now, AI data center mega hubs are being planned across Australia. Some are as large as 350 hectares. That's the equivalent of 175 MCG playing fields. And the energy they need to fuel them is just as huge, more than the total output of an entire coal plant. The solution? So-called shadow grids, built in partnership between the data centers and big gas, where gas-fired power plants are placed directly on site, powering the centers and generating huge emissions in the process. Today, Ketan Joshi, climate expert and author on a new Greenpeace report on the relationship between fossil fuel companies and data centers and Australia's vulnerability in the AI race. [gentle music] It's Monday, June 8. So Ketan, in Australia right now, we're seeing this wave of, of very large data center proposals. And to begin with, would you mind just telling me a bit about some of these projects, about what it is that's being proposed, how big they are? Yeah, tell me about what we're seeing.
Ketan Joshi· Guest1:23
Australia's data center project proposals are massive at a global scale. Uh,