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LAST UPDATE | 18 Feb
NEW DATA CENTRES will be required to have generators or storage, either on-site or nearby, that can match its level of demand as a backup.
This is in an effort to ensure that new data centres won’t put additional pressure on existing electricity supplies.
Last year, The Journal Investigates found that backup and emergency generators attached to data centres in Ireland are releasing huge quantities of carbon dioxide emissions.
Our investigation found that over 135,000 tonnes of CO2 was emitted from these centres in the last five years from generators not on the electricity grid.
This amount of CO2 is comparable to running roughly 33,750 cars for a year in terms of the climate pollution produced.
The proposed new rules for the industry will be published today by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU).
The CRU said data centre demand growth to date has been heavily concentrated around the Dublin area, which has contributed to creating localised pressure on the electricity network.
New data centres seeking to connect to the grid will also be required to participate in the market and provide power to homes and businesses.
And while future data centres will be required to report on their emissions and the use of renewable energy, data centres will be allowed to use fossil-fuels.
The CRU said it is “trying to strike a balance between a number of competing demands and issues”.
“We are providing clarity to the sector on how it can connect to the grid over the coming years,” CRU Commissioner Dr Tanya Harrington told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
Harrington added that the CRU is asking ESB and EirGrid to collate data in order to show where the grid is constrained, “so that those investing will have a clear picture of where they can easily connect to the system or where there are constraints”.
She added that the draft decision is “working towards the government’s twin objectives of decarbonisation and digitalisation”.
However, Harrington said that it is a “matter for the data centres themselves to choose how they fuel and power themselves”.
“We’re requiring them to participate in the market, and that means that the most efficient plant, the cleanest plant, gets dispatched first,” she added.
“So there’s a number of incentives to try and incentivise the data centres who are constructing to do it in the greenest fashion possible.”
Research from University College Cork in December found that electricity demand from data centres has grown at an annual rate of almost 23% since 2015.
Electricity demand of other sectors, including transport, residential and commercial, and public services, grew by less than 0.5% over the same period.
It’s estimated that the data centre sector will continue to grow in the coming years, with demand from contracted data centres projected to increase from 21% of national electricity demand in 2023 to 30% by 2032.
Harrington said she understands these concerns but added that “our climate objectives are very ambitious, and we are working to develop an abundant source of renewable energy off the west coast of Ireland and bring that onshore”.
However, she said this will “take some time because we have to build the infrastructure to do that, which is why investment in the grid is so important”.
She added that progressing “both onshore and grid reinforcement supports will leave us in a situation where we have a greater abundance of renewable energy”.
Harrington further remarked that the draft decision “tries to meet our emissions targets and ensure there’s a continued investment in what is the enabling infrastructure for a knowledge rich economy”.
The CRU said it has “engaged heavily with stakeholders”.
“This is a draft decision, so it’s out for public consultation for six weeks, and we very much look forward to receiving the feedback from the industry,” said Harrington.
Unsure of what exactly is happening with the earth’s climate? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online.
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Maybe the children should be taught That there was no famine and the country was exporting food at the time . Call it was it really was Genocide !
History should be put in a context that young people understand . If they added genealogy to part of the curriculum they could see that what happened did not not happen to strangers but to members of their own families. Then history would become more relevant to them .
@Mary Mc Carthy: A small family genealogy module would probably be a really fun and engaging activity for kids. It feels like if it’s getting special status then history should try to cover Ireland’s entire history in a broader sense and not get into the weeds too much on topics.
@Edmund Murphy: see Car Thompson’s post below for what is wrong with what you said.
Analysis of evidence and weighing up competing explanations is the nub of it.
The absence/inclusion of certain content at JC can be criticized, but the real issue is the lack of skills development. The current JC exam assesses factual knowledge more than anything else. Historians don’t just learn facts and slap them down on paper, they analyze and develop arguments in response to questions. Apart from the document analysis, which is only one section, the exam
rewards student who retain knowledge well which is more so a memory test than anything else… hopefully the CBAs will address this!
@Carl Thompson: Well said.
@Carl Thompson: indeed well said but the issue there lies less with the way things are taught and more to do with the structure of the exam.
As far as the dept is concerned, there has to be a way to test how much knowledge the student has in their head, and so we end with a rote learning system.
It certainly kills much of the creativity, for all its ‘efficiency.’
The author should be asked for their input into a new curriculum.
@Carl Thompson: That’s the old Junior Cert. This year’s Third Years are the last to do it. While there is not that much info on the exam for the new Junior Cyle, the projects, the CBAs, in second and third year will teach the students more skills and they will learn to research local history. The exam will probably be generic questions that the students twist their knowledge to suit, another skill in itself. Anyway who knows? The lack of information and the bloated size of the curriculum is still typical of the department. There is movement towards research and presentation, but also movement towards dumbing down.
@TheHeathen: CBAs are unlikely to teach students how to research properly though. Most will type their question into google and use the first couple of pages to write their CBA.
@Carl Thompson: 13-15yr olds should be learning facts, chronology, concepts, cause and effect etc. Skills like analysis of sources, marshalling facts to argue a point, critical thinking, research etc can only be developed once you have a secure knowledge base and a broad understanding of the sweep of history. If you don’t teach students factual knowledge at that age most are not likely to seek it out later you and you end up with students who have no historical knowledge and therefore no understanding of history at all and you can’t have a fully functioning democracy when a large chunk of the population have no knowledge of the past.
@Damon16: I disagree, skills and knowledge go hand in hand. You talk about students with ‘no understanding of history’… simply being able to list Martin Luther did during the Reformation isn’t real knowledge (which will get you full marks in the JC ‘essays’). 12-15 year olds are fully capable of critical thinking and analysis if taught properly.
I think there’s no harm in learning facts as I did, sometimes reluctantly, in school. I emerged with a naïve view but, as I matured and things happened, I started seeing connections and developed balanced views. You can’t teach children maturity but you can show them broad patterns, basic chronology which they can develop as they grow. In fact, in the UK, there’s been an emphasis on WW2 whereas no one can really properly understand it without a grounding in 19th century history at least.
Time is a problem in school, trying to fit in every worthy activity is impossible. I think I gained immensely from doing Latin and wonder if everyone should do Art and Home Economics for their mental and practical welfare. Conversely I question Maths being compulsory after a certain age – I say that as a retired Maths/Science teacher
The other major blind spot is the National Museum of Ireland has no exhibition to An Gorta Mor in Collins Barracks suppression by omission this is the greatest cover up in Irish and British history since the States foundation.
32 governments, 9 Presidents and 14 Taoiseach’s.
Well done.
A very good article.
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