Data Vampires: Opposing Data Centers (Episode 2)

As hyperscale data centers move into communities, they come with significant water and energy demands that some are not willing to put up with. We go to Ireland, Spain, and Chile to learn about the effects of data centers on the ground and why some communities are fighting back. They’re asking whether the tradeoffs they’re being expected to make are really necessary. This is episode 2 of Data Vampires, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

• People Before Profit TD Brid Smith, Tu Nube Seca Mi Río organizer Aurora Gomez Delgado, and King’s College London lecturer Sebastian Lehuede were interviewed for this episode.
• Some pieces by Dara Kerr in NPR, Sarah Emerson and Emily Baker-White in Forbes, and Hannah Daly in The Irish Times were cited.
• A full transcript can be found on the show’s official website.

• Data Centers Are a Climate Enemy w/ Ketan Joshi
• We Need to Cut Our Dependence on US Tech. Here’s How to Start.
• Smart Glasses Are Ushering In An Anti-Social World w/ Chris Gilliard
• Why Countries Must Fight For Digital Sovereignty w/ Cecilia Rikap