Green MEP for Dublin Ciarán Cuffe says a pathway to net-zero emissions must be decided in law for large data centre owners, in accordance with the Climate Action Plan 2021. This follows the publication of a new University College Cork study on the impact of data centres on Ireland’s energy supply and carbon emissions. Among its recommendations, the study calls for large data centre owners to be encouraged to disclose annual emissions and projections of future emissions; for the explicit inclusion of data centres in national energy and emissions reporting; and for urgent investment to reinforce Ireland’s energy grid, enabling it to keep up with future demand.Ciarán Cuffe, Green MEP for Dublin, said: “A low carbon future is in sight, and data centres will play an enabling role in how we get there. However, it is increasingly clear that data centres in Ireland are considerable emissions producers as well as energy consumers, and their emissions are set to increase further. We therefore need to decide a pathway to net-zero for data centres that is consistent with our national carbon budgets, as we have done for other sectors. With this study, some of Ireland’s leading academics in energy and climate have made an important and timely contribution to government discussions about how we can sustain the future growth of this sector. Evidently, reporting requirements and planning for net-zero will be essential tools in this process.”The UCC study “A Review of Data Centre Impacts on Electricity Supply and Decarbonisation Ambition in Ireland” is available to read here. This research was funded by the Greens/EFA, and the opinions presented are independent of the funding sources. The review was written by Dr Paul Deane with additional comments from Dr Hannah Daly, Dr Barry Hayes, and Dr Connor McGookin at UCC.