Protesters Challenge Google Data Center Plan in Thurrock

On Wednesday afternoon, Jamie Robins delivered a petition signed by almost 55,000 people to Google's UK headquarters in London, asking the company to drop plans for a large data center in Thurrock, 15 miles east of London. He works for Buglife, which has joined local wildlife groups, Foxglove and the Thurrock Hammers motorcycle club in opposing the project. The groups cite habitat loss, pollution and the loss of a former racing site.

An unlikely alliance

Buglife and local wildlife groups say the development would destroy habitat for an endangered plant, a rare bumblebee and other invertebrates. Foxglove says the data center would emit too much pollution, while the Thurrock Hammers want to return to racing on the site. Of 1,000 public responses to the planning authority, only one supported the project. Thurrock Council says many responses came from people outside the local area. The protesters argue the plan fails to account for the loss of the raceway, habitat destruction and up to 570,000 tonnes of emissions a year, which Foxglove claims cannot be accommodated under the UK carbon budget.

Google's response

Google says its Thurrock plans prioritize biodiversity and emissions reduction. Adam Elman, director of sustainability EMEA at Google, says the company shares concerns raised by Buglife and others and expects the site to be developed sustainably. Google claims it can achieve a net gain in biodiversity by retaining habitat and transplanting endangered plants elsewhere, and that it will offset emissions by financing new renewable energy generation, with a view to becoming carbon neutral by 2030. It also says the motorcycle track has been out of use for a number of years.

Resistance beyond Thurrock

The demonstration was one of several anti-data center protests across Europe last week. In Amsterdam, protesters scaled a crane at a Microsoft data center site and unfurled a “fuck AI” banner. Robins says local campaign groups against data centers are appearing every week. Across the UK, companies are preparing industrial-scale data centers to meet demand for compute used for artificial intelligence and other digital services, while the government wants to attract investment and reduce dependence on foreign compute partners.

What happens next

Thurrock Council expects to rule on Google's initial planning application early next year. After that, Google will need a more detailed plan, which will face another lengthy vetting process. Rob Pownall, founder of Protect The Wild, who attended the demonstration, says he does not think the campaign has much hope right now, but calls the protest another chip off a massive ice block. Robins calls the process a war of attrition.

Sources: Wired