REA Publishes an Essential Read: The Data Centre Myth Buster
Author: Matt Parry, Head of Power and Energy Demand
This myth buster is designed to address common misconceptions about data centres and provide an evidence-based overview of their economic, social and environmental impact – and is written for a wide array of audiences. Data centres are essential infrastructure that keeps the UK economy and public services running, supporting everything from card and phone payments to taxi services allocating drivers. They strengthen our energy system and labour markets by bringing high-quality jobs, supporting the energy transition, and unlocking investment. The choice is between building them on our own terms or relying on overseas capacity. If we want to lead in AI, drive productivity and create opportunities in regions that have previously been left behind, clean-powered data centres must sit at the heart of this strategy.