Watch: 'We need to slam the brakes on energy-guzzling data centres,' Polanski says
Zack Polanski has called for a freeze on the approval of new data centres in England because of concerns about the amount of water and energy they use.
The Green Party leader said the government should introduce stricter environmental rules and give communities more say on whether the centres are built in their area.
Data centres can use significant amounts of water to cool their systems, although there are no official figures on how much water they consume in the UK.
The government said a pause would lead to the UK losing investment and being dependent on overseas computing for sensitive data processing.
A spokesman said: "It would be a disaster for jobs and national security."
There are hundreds of data centres in the UK – with plans for many more.
Exact numbers are hard to find, but the BBC reported last year there were around 477.
Many are clustered around London and the south of England – areas which are officially in drought at the moment.
The amount of water data centres consume can change based on size, design and local climate – the hotter the area the more water needed to cool the equipment.
I used to live in a quiet area – now a data centre overlooks my garden
Data centres could pay hundreds of millions in deposits for power demands
Scottish data centres powering AI already using enough water to fill 27 million bottles a year
Speaking on a visit to the site of a proposed data centre in East London, Polanski told the BBC: "We need to slam the brakes on these energy guzzling, water guzzling data centres.
"Essentially, we need basically a moratorium other than local scale data centres for the local community.
