Data centres are booming in Australia - but at what cost?
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Locals in the Sydney suburb of Lane Cove are concerned about the planned construction of four new data centres The sheer size and noise of data centres are what people tend to notice first.
悉尼郊区 Lane Cove 当地人对计划建设的四个新数据中心感到担忧 人们往往首先注意到的是数据中心的庞大规模和噪音。
Some say they sound like a jet plane about to take off, others complain of a high-pitched whine. When Lucy* puts her child to bed, she hears a constant humming.
有人说它们听起来像一架即将起飞的喷气式飞机，另一些人则抱怨是尖锐的哀鸣声。 当露西*让她的孩子上床睡觉时，她听到持续不断的嗡嗡声。
"I'll hear it and think, 'What is that? What is going on?'," she says. And then she'll remember that the noise is a data centre just 350m (0.2 miles) from her front door in the desirable suburb of Lane Cove, in Sydney's lower north-shore.
“我会听到它并想，‘那是什么？ 发生了什么事？”，她说。 然后她会记得，噪音来自距离她前门仅 350m（0.2 英里）的数据中心，该数据中心位于悉尼下北岸理想的 Lane Cove 郊区。
Another four are in the pipeline at the local industrial park. Australia has quickly become a global destination for data centres, with investors attracted to the country's abundance of clean energy, natural gas reserves, and land to power and house their technologies.
另外四个正在当地工业园区筹备中。 澳大利亚已迅速成为全球数据中心目的地，投资者被该国丰富的清洁能源、天然气储量以及用于供电和容纳其技术的土地所吸引。
Earlier this year, OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman said Australia could become a data centre capital of the world, if it wanted to.
今年早些时候，OpenAI 首席执行官 Sam Altman 表示，如果澳大利亚愿意，它可以成为世界数据中心之都。
Australia is already headed in the direction of big tech's wishes.
澳大利亚已经朝着大型科技公司愿望的方向前进。
There are 162 data centres across the country, with plans for 90 more, and an estimated more than A$155bn (£80bn) of investment money lined up. If approved, one of the world's biggest data centres will be built in western Sydney.
全国有 162 个数据中心，计划再建设 90 个，预计投资资金将超过 1,550 亿澳元（800 亿英镑）。 如果获得批准，世界上最大的数据中心之一将建在悉尼西部。
At one gigawatt, it is expected to be Australia's largest single energy user. And in Marsden Park, also in western Sydney, the biggest data centre in the Southern Hemisphere is already under construction only 100m away from a local community.
预计将成为澳大利亚最大的单一能源用户，达到一吉瓦。 而在同样位于悉尼西部的马斯登公园，南半球最大的数据中心已经在建设中，距离当地社区仅 100m。
But as more Australians find themselves living next door to data centres - triggering concerns about water supplies, energy use and the environment - many are asking whether joining the artificial intelligence (AI) race is worth it.
但随着越来越多的澳大利亚人发现自己住在数据中心旁边，引发了人们对供水、能源使用和环境的担忧，许多人开始质疑加入人工智能 (AI) 竞赛是否值得。
Data centres, like this one in Lane Cove, are becoming a more familiar sight in Australia Data centres have been essential to the digital economy since the arrival of the internet.
像莱恩科夫 (Lane Cove) 的数据中心这样的数据中心在澳大利亚正变得越来越常见 自互联网出现以来，数据中心对于数字经济至关重要。
They were originally built to process and store data for things like emails, online banking and cloud services.
它们最初是为了处理和存储电子邮件、网上银行和云服务等数据而构建的。
But everything changed after 2022 when ChatGPT launched and AI exploded in popularity.
但 2022 年 ChatGPT 推出、人工智能爆发式普及后，一切都发生了变化。
This prompted a sudden race to build more data centres to power the technology. The location of these large, windowless buildings filled with beeping servers and cables also became important to latency – the time it takes for data to travel from its source to its destination. Delays for things like air traffic control, robotic surgery or even Netflix would not be tolerated today, Belinda Dennett, CEO of Data Centres Australia, says.
这促使人们突然竞相建造更多数据中心来支持该技术。 这些大型、无窗的建筑物中充满了发出蜂鸣声的服务器和电缆，其位置对于延迟（数据从源传输到目的地所需的时间）也变得很重要。 澳大利亚数据中心首席执行官贝琳达·丹尼特 (Belinda Dennett) 表示，如今空中交通管制、机器人手术甚至 Netflix 等服务的延误都是不能容忍的。
Australia has roughly 13.6 million users of AI every month, making them the sixth most active users of the tech globally.
澳大利亚每月约有 1360 万人工智能用户，使其成为全球第六大最活跃的技术用户。
And experts say having data centres in Australia will lower the barrier to building more of its own AI companies.
专家表示，在澳大利亚拥有数据中心将降低建立更多自己的人工智能公司的障碍。
"If we think about it in reverse, what happens if we don't build infrastructure here", Dennett says.
“如果我们反过来思考，如果我们不在这里建设基础设施，会发生什么”，丹尼特说。
"We get none of the value chain, we are just importing tools from someone else and we become just a user."
“我们没有获得任何价值链，我们只是从别人那里进口工具，我们只是一个用户。”
Australia is also an attractive market for foreign investment, as "we've got availability of land, we've got political stability, and we've got the Five Eyes security alliance," Dennett says. "We've also got a skilled workforce, a pretty stable energy grid, and an abundance of renewable energy potential."
丹尼特说，澳大利亚对外国投资来说也是一个有吸引力的市场，因为“我们有可用的土地，我们有政治稳定，我们有五眼安全联盟”。 “我们还拥有熟练的劳动力、相当稳定的能源网络以及丰富的可再生能源潜力。”
Jon Whittle says the government has no choice but to lean into data centres Leading business experts and economists say that without Australia's data centre boom over the last couple of years, the country would likely have headed into a recession.
Jon Whittle 表示政府别无选择，只能依靠数据中心 领先的商业专家和经济学家表示，如果没有过去几年澳大利亚数据中心的繁荣，该国可能会陷入衰退。
Jon Whittle, a former director of the digital research centre at the country's national science agency CSIRO, who is now a leading voice in AI and business, agrees with this.
澳大利亚国家科学机构 CSIRO 数字研究中心前主任乔恩·惠特尔（Jon Whittle）现在是人工智能和商业领域的领军人物，他对此表示同意。
He says the government doesn't really have a choice but to continue down the investment path.
他表示，政府实际上别无选择，只能继续沿着投资道路前进。
"There's some very serious considerations around this, but my main message would be we need to lean into it," he says.
“对此有一些非常严肃的考虑，但我的主要信息是我们需要深入研究，”他说。
Residents in Sydney's lower north shore fear the national park and river will be affected by a new cluster of data centres But leading energy and environmental experts argue Australia has little capacity to meet the massive energy and water demands of new data centres. The Australian Energy Market Operator says data centre energy demands could triple by 2030 nationwide.
悉尼下北岸的居民担心国家公园和河流将受到新数据中心集群的影响 但领先的能源和环境专家认为，澳大利亚几乎没有能力满足新数据中心的巨大能源和水需求。 澳大利亚能源市场运营商表示，到 2030 年，全国数据中心的能源需求可能会增加两倍。
Without significant new renewable generation and storage, data centres could push power prices 26% higher in New South Wales (NSW) by 2035, according to the Climate Council, an independent non-profit that provides expert advice.
根据提供专家建议的独立非营利组织气候委员会的数据，如果没有大量新的可再生能源发电和存储，到 2035 年，数据中心可能会将新南威尔士州 (NSW) 的电价推高 26%。
Because data centres need uninterrupted power at a scale and speed that wind and solar cannot match, there are fears the current boom will trigger a new generation of coal and gas power plants.
由于数据中心需要不间断电力的规模和速度是风能和太阳能无法比拟的，因此人们担心当前的繁荣将引发新一代煤炭和天然气发电厂。
No data centre operator analysed in a recent report by Greenpeace Australia Pacific adequately proved their claim of driving the country's renewable energy growth.
澳大利亚太平洋绿色和平组织最近的一份报告中分析的数据中心运营商都没有充分证明他们推动该国可再生能源增长的说法。
In the US, many data centres are not waiting to build more renewable energy and have found it cheaper to build new gas-fired power stations instead.
在美国，许多数据中心并没有等待建造更多的可再生能源，而是发现建造新的燃气发电站更便宜。
Just a 90-minute drive from Sydney's central business district, the Australian-owned data group Cloud Carrier plans to build three gas-fired power stations to generate energy for an existing data centre and two more in the future.
澳大利亚数据集团 Cloud Carrier 距离悉尼中央商务区仅 90 分钟车程，计划建设三座燃气发电站，为现有数据中心和未来另外两座数据中心发电。
Moreover, if energy demands place too much pressure on the grid or there is a power outage, data centres, like in Lane Cove, will rely on backup diesel generators.
此外，如果能源需求给电网带来太大压力或发生停电，像莱恩科夫这样的数据中心将依赖备用柴油发电机。
But NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey says Australia's investment boom in data centres is being accompanied by a boom in renewable energy.
但新南威尔士州财长 Daniel Mookhey 表示，澳大利亚数据中心投资热潮伴随着可再生能源的蓬勃发展。
"We don't see the two [as] unrelated," he tells the BBC.
“我们不认为两者无关，”他告诉 BBC。
"We see data centres allowing us to replace a lot of our old coal-fired power with clean, green renewable energy with the private sector picking up a large amount of the tab because otherwise households would."
“我们看到数据中心使我们能够用清洁、绿色的可再生能源取代大量旧的燃煤发电，而私营部门承担了大量费用，否则家庭就会承担。”
The new private investment will help with renewable energy and create "new industries that are likely to employ future generations", Mookhey says.
穆克希表示，新的私人投资将有助于可再生能源的发展，并创造“可能雇用子孙后代的新产业”。
A data centre in Artarmon, Sydney.
悉尼阿塔蒙的一个数据中心。
The huge windowless buildings use massive amounts of energy and water But data centres also consume large amounts of water - some up to 40 million litres a day, which is equivalent to 80,000 households - to prevent their servers from overheating. In a drought-prone country that is a potentially huge problem.
巨大的无窗建筑消耗大量的能源和水 但数据中心也消耗大量的水——有些每天高达 4000 万升，相当于 80,000 个家庭——以防止服务器过热。 在一个干旱多发的国家，这可能是一个巨大的问题。
Sydney already needs to increase its drinking water supply over the next five to 10 years in order to provide for its growing population, according to Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA).
澳大利亚供水服务协会 (WSAA) 表示，悉尼已经需要在未来五到十年内增加饮用水供应，以满足不断增长的人口需求。
But if that water is used for data centres, households are likely to pay the price for sourcing water from elsewhere, such as through desalination, which costs more than traditional water sources. Sydney Water, Australia's largest water utility, says data centres could use up to 25% of Sydney's drinking water by 2035.
但如果这些水用于数据中心，家庭可能会支付从其他地方取水的价格，例如通过海水淡化，这比传统水源的成本更高。 澳大利亚最大的自来水公司悉尼水务公司表示，到 2035 年，数据中心可能会消耗悉尼 25% 的饮用水。
In July, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a new legal obligation for "large-scale" data centres to underwrite power supplies, limit water use, and pay for any extra water infrastructure needed. But the prime minister also told media that the legislation, which will be introduced in 2027, would only apply to new proposals, not projects that were already built or under construction.
今年 7 月，总理安东尼·阿尔巴内塞 (Anthony Albanese) 宣布了一项新的法律义务，要求“大型”数据中心承担电力供应、限制用水以及支付所需的任何额外水利基础设施费用。 但总理还告诉媒体，这项将于 2027 年推出的立法仅适用于新提案，不适用于已建成或在建的项目。
In response, environmental and community groups want a pause on all data centre development.
作为回应，环境和社区团体希望暂停所有数据中心的开发。
"We've got the government rolling out the red carpet saying we want to be the data centre capital of the world," Sydney's Lane Cove deputy mayor, Rochelle Flood, says.
悉尼 Lane Cove 副市长 Rochelle Flood 表示：“政府铺开了红地毯，表示我们希望成为世界数据中心之都。”
"But can we actually do that sustainably or is it going to set us back in terms of net zero and our water storage targets?"
“但我们真的能可持续地做到这一点吗？或者这会让我们在净零排放和蓄水目标方面遭遇挫折吗？”
Lane Cove Deputy mayor Rochelle Flood outside the proposed data centre space at 12 Mars Road On a rainy Monday night during a town hall event led by Greenpeace Australia Pacific at the Lane Cove library, locals say they were never consulted on their area becoming a data centre hub.
Lane Cove 副市长 Rochelle Flood 在火星路 12 号拟议数据中心空间外 在一个下雨的周一晚上，澳大利亚太平洋绿色和平组织在莱恩科夫图书馆举办了一场市政厅活动，当地人表示，在他们的地区成为数据中心枢纽的问题上，从未征求过他们的意见。
One of the proposed centres from the cluster is 16m from the nearest home and 160m from a local primary school.
拟议的集群中心之一距离最近的家庭 16m，距离当地小学 160m。
In addition, Flood says if the four data centres get approved in the industrial park, 50% of the current businesses will have to move - taking their jobs with them.
此外，弗拉德表示，如果工业园内的四个数据中心获得批准，现有企业中的50%将不得不搬迁，他们的工作岗位也会随之迁移。
Felipe Tanaka, 40, is a manager of a business in the industrial park who has been told he must relocate for a data centre.
40 岁的费利佩·田中 (Felipe Tanaka) 是工业园区一家企业的经理，他被告知必须搬迁到数据中心。
"We never knew that something like this would happen," Tanaka tells the BBC.
田中告诉英国广播公司：“我们从来不知道会发生这样的事情。”
"Thousands of jobs are going to be gone from this area in the next few years."
“未来几年，该地区将失去数千个工作岗位。”
While a large data centre can employ more than a thousand workers during construction, research says that number drops to more like 100 jobs once the centre is operational.
虽然大型数据中心在建设期间可以雇用 1000 多名工人，但研究表明，一旦中心投入运营，这一数字就会下降到 100 多个。
"Most of our 300 to 400 workers here are locals," Tanaka says.
“我们这里有 300 到 400 名工人，其中大多数是当地人，”田中说。
"Having to move will probably see half of my employees gone."
“如果不得不搬家，我的一半员工可能就会离开。”
NSW Treasurer Mookhey says the jobs that data centres will bring come not from those who work in them but from those who use them.
新南威尔士州财长穆克希表示，数据中心带来的就业机会不是来自在其中工作的人，而是来自使用数据中心的人。
"When Microsoft and Amazon do business here in NSW, it's pleasing to see they are committed to providing some of their more skilled operations and locating them here," he says. But what other skilled jobs might be created is not clear, and effectively what the data centres will be used for.
他说：“当微软和亚马逊在新南威尔士州开展业务时，我们很高兴看到他们致力于提供一些更熟练的业务并将其安置在这里。” 但还不清楚可能会创造哪些其他技术性工作岗位，也不清楚数据中心的实际用途。
As some critics have pointed out, many AI users are making cat GIFs, which uses the equivalent amount of energy as running a microwave for an hour.
正如一些批评者指出的那样，许多人工智能用户正在制作猫 GIF，其消耗的能量相当于微波炉运行一小时的能量。
"They're telling us this is essential... that we need to have these centres in our neighbourhood but they're not saying what it's for," Flood says. "When our drinking water, energy and land is being used for generative AI slop, that is not giving any value back."
“他们告诉我们这是至关重要的......我们需要在我们的社区建立这些中心，但他们没有说明它的用途，”弗拉德说。 “当我们的饮用水、能源和土地被用于生成人工智能废水时，这并没有带来任何价值。”
*Names have been changed to protect identities
*为了保护身份，姓名已更改
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