<p>The world's biggest tech companies are <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/ai-giant-anthropic-backs-in-albanese-government-s-data-centre-plan-20260331-p5zkg9">scoping Australia out</a> as a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx244kdplnzo">data centre hub</a>. As they see it, we have an abundance of space, electricity and water. But do we actually have enough?</p><p><a href="https://www.datacentermap.com/australia/">About 270 data centres</a> have already been built in Australia, and there are a whole lot more on the way.</p><p>The amount of electricity and water these massive buildings are projected to consume is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/03/datacentres-demand-huge-amounts-of-electricity-could-they-derail-australias-net-zero-ambitions">staggering</a>. We'll walk through the numbers this episode, and who is likely to end up footing the bill.</p><p>The MIT Technology Review article Bronwyn referenced during the episode is <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech/">here</a>.</p><p>GUESTS:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/petra-stock">Petra Stock</a>, climate and environment reporter for The Guardian Australia.</li><li><a href="https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Bronwyn.Cumbo">Bronwyn Cumbo</a>, lecturer at University of Technology Sydney and transdisiciplinary social researcher. Her Conversation article is <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-set-to-get-more-ai-data-centres-local-communities-need-to-be-more-involved-259799">here</a>.</li></ul><p>------------</p><p>This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.</p><p>------------</p><p>Get in touch:</p><p>We'd love to hear from you! Email us at <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p><p>Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.</p>