Macra has called on Government to back and support dairy farmers over data centres.
The young farmer organisation president Elaine Houlihan has warned that Ireland’s data centres, with some 1,800 workers, consume 18% of the electricity the country produces.
Houlihan pointed out that this electricity use, at 18%, equates to the same amount of metered electricity used by urban dwellings and almost double the electricity of rural homes which rests at 10.
“Perhaps this is better expressed as every 100 data centre workers consume 1% of the electricity generated in this state and 1,000 data centre workers consume the same amount of electricity as all of our rural households put together,” she said.
Dairy herds
Houlihan compared the high electricity use of data centres to the environmental sustainability of Irish dairy farms.
“Much has been written about the calamitous pollution going into the atmosphere from dairy cows in this country. To counter this, a proposal is being worked on to reduce the size of the national dairy herd by 10% over the next three years,” she said.
Macra president Elaine Houlihan. \ Odhran Ducie
The Macra president said that from an “ecological perspective”, milk production in Ireland produces less greenhouse gasses and uses less water than any other country.
“I am astounded that we are looking to reduce our national herd of dairy cows by 180,000 head in the next three years, while Brazil is planning to increase its herd by 30 million head by 2030.
“The emissions all go into the same atmosphere, with the difference that Ireland is not cutting down a rain forest to meet the global demand for the products that we produce,” she added.
Media portrayal
The young farmer leader criticised how farmers are portrayed in some media outlets as the “destroyers of our environment with no care about our future”.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. Farmers receive the land in trust and hold it in trust for the next generation,” she insisted.
The Irish dairy sector is one of the most sustainable, claims Macra. \ Donal O' Leary
Houlihan said that instead of “vilifying sectors”, Ireland must look at the whole sustainability story before making up our minds.
“Our agricultural sector produces enough food for 35m people. The World Food Programme estimates that there are currently 345.2m people who are food insecure – more than double the 2020 figure. It makes little to no sense to reduce production of food of the quality that we consistently produce,” she explained.
In conclusion, the Macra president claimed that “removing 180,000 dairy cows from production in Ireland is like removing 180,000 electric cars in one country and introducing 1,000,000 old diesel cars that belch black smoke to another country at the same time”.
Read more
Cow cull plan could cost dairy farmers €2,500/year
Macra has called on Government to back and support dairy farmers over data centres.
The young farmer organisation president Elaine Houlihan has warned that Ireland’s data centres, with some 1,800 workers, consume 18% of the electricity the country produces.
Houlihan pointed out that this electricity use, at 18%, equates to the same amount of metered electricity used by urban dwellings and almost double the electricity of rural homes which rests at 10.
“Perhaps this is better expressed as every 100 data centre workers consume 1% of the electricity generated in this state and 1,000 data centre workers consume the same amount of electricity as all of our rural households put together,” she said.
Dairy herds
Houlihan compared the high electricity use of data centres to the environmental sustainability of Irish dairy farms.
“Much has been written about the calamitous pollution going into the atmosphere from dairy cows in this country. To counter this, a proposal is being worked on to reduce the size of the national dairy herd by 10% over the next three years,” she said.
Macra president Elaine Houlihan. \ Odhran Ducie
The Macra president said that from an “ecological perspective”, milk production in Ireland produces less greenhouse gasses and uses less water than any other country.
“I am astounded that we are looking to reduce our national herd of dairy cows by 180,000 head in the next three years, while Brazil is planning to increase its herd by 30 million head by 2030.
“The emissions all go into the same atmosphere, with the difference that Ireland is not cutting down a rain forest to meet the global demand for the products that we produce,” she added.
Media portrayal
The young farmer leader criticised how farmers are portrayed in some media outlets as the “destroyers of our environment with no care about our future”.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. Farmers receive the land in trust and hold it in trust for the next generation,” she insisted.
The Irish dairy sector is one of the most sustainable, claims Macra. \ Donal O' Leary
Houlihan said that instead of “vilifying sectors”, Ireland must look at the whole sustainability story before making up our minds.
“Our agricultural sector produces enough food for 35m people. The World Food Programme estimates that there are currently 345.2m people who are food insecure – more than double the 2020 figure. It makes little to no sense to reduce production of food of the quality that we consistently produce,” she explained.
In conclusion, the Macra president claimed that “removing 180,000 dairy cows from production in Ireland is like removing 180,000 electric cars in one country and introducing 1,000,000 old diesel cars that belch black smoke to another country at the same time”.
Read more
Cow cull plan could cost dairy farmers €2,500/year
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