Host in Ireland Report Busts Data Center Carbon Emissions Myth
The Host in Ireland Quarterly Report shows the carbon impact of data centers to level off at 2.2% of Ireland’s total emissions by 2025 despite strong growth in data center capacity
DUBLIN — A new report from Host in Ireland, in association with Bitpower, projects that due to the decarbonization of the electricity grid and renewable first purchasing policies of the Irish data center industry, data center CO2 will level off at about 2.2% of Ireland’s total emissions by 2025. The increase is expected to slow further as the transition to renewable electricity generation accelerates in order to meet the targets in the government’s Climate Action Plan.
Using data from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and EirGrid, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of data centers on Ireland’s carbon emissions historically and also looks ahead to the next five years. The model predicts that by the end of 2025, there will be 1,700 MW of data center capacity operational in Ireland. It also takes into account the SEAI historical data showing the CO2 per unit of electricity has almost halved over the past 15 years and the impact that has on CO2 attributable to data centers in Ireland in the future.