not releasing any emissions. in some places, the clouds hunger for power is putting communities under pressure, as data centres demand more and more. this is county clare in the west of ireland. a site near ennis looks set to become the country s latest data centre. the company behind it hasn t been made public, but its centre would cover ias acres. it s huge. it s two storeys high. it uses massive amounts of electricity. the developers say it s sustainable. campaigners have appealed, and say the electricity could power 200,000 homes.
and you can hear the extended interview, living with andrew tate on file on four on bbc radio 4 tomorrow night at 8pm. as our digital lives expand so does the need for online storage but have you ever wondered how much energy is used to save information to the cloud? thousands of computers are in operation 24 hours a day in order to record our online activity. environmental campaigners claim these data centres use as much power and water as 200,000 homes and this could be threatening the completion of housing developments around the uk. richard bilton has this report. 0n the west coast of ireland, the latest bit of the cloud is about to come down to earth. it s huge, it s two storeys high. it uses massive amounts of electricity. the plan is for a 145 acre site full of computers. the developers say it s sustainable, but local campaigners say it will use as much power as 200,000 homes.
the latest bit of the cloud is about to come down to earth. it s huge, its two storeys high. it uses massive amounts of electricity. the plan is for a 145 acre site full of computers. the developers say it s sustainable, but local campaigners say it will use as much power as 200,000 homes. it s completely unsustainable to continue on this path of growth, growth, growth, and especially with data centres who use an awful lot of fossil fuel energy at the moment, as well as water, and those are very precious resources. it ll be part of a global network of thousands of data centres that house the cloud. and they re greedy for power and water. streaming, saving photos, conference calls the cloud is responsible for millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases every year. here in ireland, the centres now use
still to come: the case of the actress who wasn t there. we ll explain why universal studios is being sued for $5 million. the world of music has been paying tribute to george michael, who s died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon says it s failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle| was hastily taken away. in its place, the russian flag - was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth i of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am s maid of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned
the hammer and sickle| was hastily taken away. in its place, the russian flag - was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth i of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am s maid of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines travel chaos in some parts of north america as frigid temperatures ground planes and turn roads into death traps. violent clashes grip paris after three people are shot dead at a kurdish community centre.