DATA centres have increased their electricity consumption by 265pc in six years, new figures show.
Their power usage jumped by 32pc last year alone, and they now account for 14pc of the country’s total electricity usage.
That is more than all rural households in the country which combined use 12pc.
Their demand is getting close to the level of electricity consumption by all urban households which collectively use 21pc.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show a swift rise in data centre demand for power since 2015 when it accounted for just 5pc of national electricity use.
It grew to 6pc in 2016 and by a further percentage point each year until it jumped to 11pc in 2020 and then 14pc by the end of 2021.
Total electricity demand across all sectors of society and the economy grew in that seven-year period but data centre growth accounted for 70pc of the increase.
Niamh Shanahan of the CSO’s environment and climate division, said measuring the increase in gigawatt hours, usage grew from 290GWh in the first three months of 2015 to 1,058GWh in the last three months of 2021.
“The increase in consumption was driven by a combination of existing data centres using more electricity and new data centres being added to the grid,” she said.
Data centres have become a contentious issue, with the sector’s rapid growth at a time of strain on energy supply and high prices coming in for criticism.
Electricity use by other large energy users, including IT companies and cement manufacturers, is also increasing and combined with data centres they account for 23pc of national demand.
Residential use follows population size with demand highest in Dublin and Cork.
But at household level, there are differences from county to county. Kildare homes had the highest average annual usage last year at 4,121 kWh while Donegal had the lowest at 2,883kWh.
Greater use of electricity for space heating in more urban counties as opposed to solid fuel in more rural counties is the main reason.
The figures suggest high numbers of vacant or little used homes around the country.
More than 45,330 residential meters recorded little or no electricity consumption last year while a further 165,000 used 1,000kWh or less – far below the national median of 3,594kWh.
The figures are based on data from 2,146,209 residential meters.
(Source – Irish Independent – Environment – Caroline O Doherty – 03/05/2022)
Lack Of Public Transport A Social And Economic ‘Disaster’ For Rural Ireland, Conference Hears
Failure to provide public transport for rural areas will have disastrous social and economic consequences, the Government has been warned.
Economist Jim Power said rural communities, and key coalition policies, would be left at a standstill without adequate investment.
“Remote working will not work, the car culture will continue to undermine environmental objectives, and rural areas will be denuded of young people, and social and economic vibrancy,” he said.
“It is time to adopt a revolutionary approach to the provision of public transport.”
Mr Power was addressing the international iRoute conference in Kilkenny which heard from experts in transport, social policy and rural development.
The key message was that good transport in rural areas prevented many problems and solved many others.
“To live in rural Ireland, having a car is essential to socialise, to shop and to go to work,” Mr Power said.
“As well as imposing higher costs on rural dwellers, it also flies in the face of Ireland’s so-called environmental agenda.
“The car culture and the car dependency need to be addressed in urban and rural settings.
“While public transport in urban areas is still inadequate in most cases, no attempt is even being made in rural Ireland.
“This has disastrous economic, environmental and social consequences.”
The conference heard from Tim Gaston of the National Transport Authority, that extensive plans for increasing and expanding bus services for communities in villages and small towns would begin to be rolled out shortly.
Under the Connecting Ireland plan, every village is to have a bus service at least three or four times daily that would conveniently connect with town and city services.
The plan has a five-year timeline but a small number of new services are to begin within weeks, with more added throughout the rest of this year.
Mr Gaston said Ireland’s highly dispersed population made providing satisfactory services a challenge.
“We do not live in cities or towns like other parts of Europe. More than half of people here in Kilkenny for example do not live in urban areas,” he said.
Hildegarde Naughton, Minister of State for Transport, told the gathering she was confident that the right framework was being put in place to improve services.
“This will improve people’s quality of life and allow the rural transport programme to grow and develop into the future,” she said.
(Source – Irish Independent – Environment – Caroline O Doherty – 05/05/2022)