Right now, AI data-centre mega-hubs as large as 350 hectares are being planned across Australia – that’s the equivalent of 175 MCG playing fields.

And the energy they need to fuel them is just as huge: more than the total output of an entire coal plant.

The solution? So-called “shadow grids” built in partnership between the data centres and big gas, where gas-fired power plants are placed directly on site, powering the centres and generating huge emissions in the process.

Today, Ketan Joshi, climate expert and co-author of a new Greenpeace report, on the relationship between fossil fuel companies and data centres, and Australia’s vulnerability in the AI race.

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Guest: Climate expert Ketan Joshi

Photo: REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol