Irish Examiner view: Data centres' energy use points to a core contradiction of modern life

We may have to make a choice between growth and carbon emissions 

The amount of energy used by Irish data centres leapt by over 30% last year and now equals the energy use of all urban homes in Ireland. Stock picture

Some of the core contradictions of modern society were neatly encapsulated yesterday, when a few 21st-century issues cut across each other in the public consciousness.

First, we learned from the Central Statistics Office that 18% of metered electricity last year was used by data centres. This is the same percentage as urban homes. This means that data centre electricity usage jumped by over 30% last year compared to the previous year.