Enol Nieto: “The rapid growth of data centers, driven by AI, can lead to large-scale environmental and social changes”
Enol Nieto holds degrees in law and political science, specializing in political ecology and water law. He has worked in research and on human rights and environmental cases in several countries. At the BETA Technological Centre of UVic-UCC, he manages Governance for Sustainability projects that connect science with public policy and rural development.
What are data centers and why are they growing so much right now?
Data centers are physical facilities where the information that makes the internet and the digital services, we use daily, such as email, social media, and streaming platforms, possible is stored, processed, and distributed. Although we tend to imagine “the cloud” as something intangible, it is actually made up of large infrastructures full of servers, storage systems, and cooling systems.
Although these centers have existed for decades, they are currently experiencing rapid growth due to the expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which requires ever-increasing data processing and storage capacity. This is driving the construction of large-scale data centers, far larger and more complex than previous models. In Spain, Aragon leads this growth in Europe, although projects are also being developed in regions such as Catalonia, Madrid, Extremadura, Cantabria, and Castilla-La Mancha.
What environmental impact do they have?
These infrastructures consume enormous amounts of natural resources, especially energy, water, and land. Their rapid growth, driven by AI, can lead to large-scale environmental and social changes. Much of the energy is used for both server operation and cooling. The most advanced systems, necessary for cooling AI processors, use evaporative cooling, which requires vast quantities of water. This generates conflicts in territories already affected by droughts, desertification, and rising temperatures, where in some cases supplying data centers is prioritized over social and ecological needs.
Furthermore, its expansion involves occupying large areas to produce energy, especially solar and wind, and generates other impacts related to waste, supply chains, taxation, citizen participation and concentration of data in the hands of large technology companies, issues that also affect digital sovereignty and democratic quality.
What strategies can reduce their environmental impact?
The problem isn’t the existence of data centers, but their current size and growth model, based on large, concentrated infrastructures. To reduce their impact, the proposal is to distribute them more evenly, make them smaller, and rethink the hypergrowth model.
The proposal also includes not only measuring the energy or water consumption of each facility, but also its overall impact on the environment and communities. This is especially important because their expansion affects ecosystems and territories, sometimes already highly vulnerable.
Furthermore, we must ask ourselves how much data we truly need and prioritize a more responsible use of technology, rather than unlimited growth. There are even concrete proposals for making better use of the energy generated by these data centers, such as reusing server heat for heating or integrating them into circular economy systems.
What policy and regulatory measures can be applied to limit its impact?
The starting point is transparency, as there is currently little information available on the energy and water consumption or usage generated by data centers. It is proposed that this data be made public in a clear and detailed manner to enable informed decision-making. From there, the proposal calls for the creation of laws and policies at the European, national, and local levels to guarantee this transparency and allow for better planning. Participatory governance, with the involvement of experts and citizens, is also advocated, along with measures to prevent the concentration of these infrastructures in areas with water or energy stress.
From the academic sector and with a focus on governance for sustainability, we are connecting scientific opinion with public policy; what we call “Science for Policy.” We have contributed these scientific recommendations to the State Pact on Climate Emergency, in global meetings such as the OECD Water Governance Initiative and we work with various government bodies at different levels. We also work alongside civil society, with social movements and unions. A few days ago we presented the topic at UGT en Verde.
What is BETA contributing to in that area?
BETA is fostering dialogue between science and policy through several projects (LocAll4Flood, Nenuphar, Interreg Euro-MED, Simil Program). These projects aim to connect public administration and academia to solve specific problems. The Simil Program addressed the water issue in the context of the drought a couple of years ago, and these links can always be reactivated, for example, with the issue of digital infrastructure.
Through our work, we not only transfer knowledge, but also create bidirectional links that allow us to understand and address political, social, and ecological challenges in ways that benefit society and ecosystems. Furthermore, BETA provides a transdisciplinary perspective, combining areas such as Applied Ecology, Global Change, and the Green Digital Transition, along with Governance for Sustainability.
