Webinar, March 29: Not Here Not Anywhere: Data Centres: Sustainability, Energy Efficiency, Extractivism (2022)
Webinar: Data Centres - Sustainability, Energy Efficiency, Extractivism
Start: Tuesday, March 29, 2022• 6:30 PM • Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London (GMT+00:00)
End: Tuesday, March 29, 2022• 7:45 PM • Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London (GMT+00:00)
Host Contact Info: info@notherenotanywhere.com
Since 2015, Ireland has seen massive growth in data centre development; what was initially a key feature of our Enterprise Strategy has become a significant point of concern for both our climate targets and our energy sector. Eirgrid projects that data centres could account for up to 27% of Ireland's electricity demand by 2028.
In Ireland, we have committed to halving our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, with 70% of our electricity powered renewably by this time. However, our government has acknowledged that data centres will create significant challenges to achieving this transition.
Our webinar will explore a variety of perspectives on data centre development and if and how we can stay digitally connected while aligning with our climate targets and a socially just transition. What data is stored in data centres? Could they be run more efficiently? Do we need them and if so, how should they be powered?
Speakers include: Dr. Patrick Brodie, FRQSC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University and a Scholar in Residence in the School of Irish Studies at Concordia University; Ms. Donna Gartland, Chief Executive Officer of Codema - Energy Efficiency Agency Dublin; and Dr. Mél Hogan, Director of the Environmental Media Lab and Associate Professor of Communication, Media and Film at the University of Calgary.
During the webinar, we will also speak about making submissions to data centre planning applications, and demonstrate our publicly available resources designed to make this process more accessible.
