|

The Village vs. the Data Giants

ByHayley Frend

How Data Centres Power the Internet and How People Are Fighting to Make Them Green

Image by Scott Rodgerson

Toggle Switch
Select Reading Level
Adult Child

In a village in India, a group of dairy farmers is getting ready for the fight of their lives. Their opponent? The HUGE technology company Microsoft!

A illuninated sign on a wood panneled wall reads 'Microsoft' and the Microspft logo with its four coloured boxes arranged in a square is next to it. The wall appears to stand in a high tech office.

Photo by Angel Bena: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-company-logo-on-a-wall-10142683/

The farmers say Microsoft is harming their way of life. But how could a farming village full of cows have anything to do with one of the world’s biggest tech giants?

Let’s dive in and find out!

Life in Mekaguda

It’s early morning in Mekaguda, so early in fact that the sun isn’t even up yet and already the farmers are busy milking their cows.

Life isn’t always easy for these farmers, even more so recently. It’s costing them more and more to feed their cows, so some have even had to take other jobs.

But if you stretch your eyes beyond the many fields of cows and crops, you will see something rather different. An enormous building is rising up from the horizon, its cold grey concrete sticks out amongst the green of the grass and the browns of the dusty earth surrounding it. And it’s exactly this sight that is currently worrying the villagers most. 


in 2024 they asked the decision makers in the court to stop Microsoft from building this giant data centre. They complained that:

  • it was spreading out onto land Microsoft didn’t own,
  • it was dumping rubbish into the local rivers and ponds
  • it was making it harder for them to care for their cattle.

Microsoft denied all this, and at the moment, both sides are arguing their point of view in court. But first, let’s circle back-what even is a data centre? 

What Is a Data Centre?

Imagine every photo you share, every funny video you watch, and every question you ask google or ChatGPT has to live somewhere, in a real, physical place.


A data centre is like a giant library for the internet.

  • Instead of books, it’s filled with thousands of powerful computers called servers.
  • Instead of librarians, there are engineers and smart machines making sure everything runs smoothly.
  • These servers store information (like your photos) and process it (like when you stream a movie or ask a question).

Take a peek inside a google data centre in the video below. 

Because those computers are always working, day and night, they get hot, just like a laptop on your knees. So a data centre also needs:

  • Electricity, to keep the computers running.
  • Cooling systems, like giant air-conditioners or water pipes, to stop the computers from overheating.

And they’re huge, often as big as several football fields! From the outside they can look like enormous, windowless warehouses, but inside they’re buzzing with rows and rows of blinking lights and humming machines.

Photo by Geoffrey Moffett on Unsplash.

In this picture, we can see a data centre in Northern Ireland. See how big it is compared to the car at the edge of the picture?

So when people say something is “saved in the cloud,” the “cloud” is really a building somewhere on Earth, packed with computers, working day and night to keep the world’s digital stuff safe and ready whenever you click.

Why do we have so many data centres? 

The data centre in Mekaguda is not the only one. In fact, there are thousands of them all over the world, and more are being built every single day. You may have heard of Artificial Intelligence or AI. It’s a bit like a super-powerful brain for a computer- allowing the computer to solve problems itself. Sounds cool, doesn’t it? And it is! AI can help us do so many incredible things- check out this blog on a few of these incredible uses.

But it does come with a catch. All that problem-solving needs a lot of powerful machines. Much more than googling something. As we use AI for more and more things, we need to build lots more data centres to hold these machines. And each of these data centres needs lots of energy to run. In fact, if you added together the energy used by all the data centres in the world, it would be more than many big countries use!

This graph shows how much more energy data centres will need for AI (the orange part) compared to the energy needed for everyday computer jobs (the blue part)

The problem with data centres

As we have said, data centres use A LOT of energy. Every time we ask our smart speaker a question or upload a photo to social media, the data centre uses energy. This is a real problem for climate change.

If you need a refresher on what climate change is watch the video below:

To make the special machines inside the data centres also use lots of energy and some rare materials that we will one day run out of. 

These problems affect the whole world. But why are the people who live near the data centres even more upset?

Lets find out. 

Electricity and Water

The data centres use so much energy that sometimes there might not be enough left for everyone who lives nearby.
The computers also get really hot because they’re working so hard. And a hot computer doesn’t work very well! So the data centre uses lots of cool water running in pipes near the machines to keep them from overheating.

They use so much water that people living nearby could run out. One big data centre can use up to 5 million gallons of water every day, that’s more than the people of Mekaguda could use in 50 whole days!

SMall fishing boats moored on a dock on a completely dry riverbed

A lack of water can lead to situations like this dry river. Photo by Jean-Paul Wettstein: https://www.pexels.com/photo/boats-moored-to-a-pier-on-a-dried-up-river-17985173/

Other problems 

When the data centres are being built they can create a lot of dust and noise. This can give people coughs, headaches and make it hard for them to breathe.  

People are also worried that the water used to cool the data centres could end up back in the rivers or ponds around them. This is a problem as the water can be too warm or contain chemicals that are harmful to the animals and plants living there.

And finally like the residents of Mekaguda, people can get understandably upset when a giant data centre takes up some precious farmland or blocks important paths they used to use.  

Big Buildings, Big Impact

Unfortunately, these giant buildings are often built in places where land is cheaper and there aren’t many rules to protect the environment. That usually means they’re close to people who might not have a lot of money or resources. And sadly, it’s these communities who notice the problems first, like dust, noise, or changes in water.

But it’s not all bad news! Many people are working hard to make data centres and AI friendlier to the environment, so they can help us without hurting the communities around them.

What’s Being Done to Help?

Technology made this problem, but maybe technology could also be the answer. Lets dive into some of the latest advances. 

Greener Energy 

One idea is to power data centres with renewable energy. Renewable energy comes from things like the sun, wind, or heat inside the Earth, so it’s much cleaner and doesn’t add as much to climate change. In New Mexico, for example, they’re planning to use geothermal energy, heat from deep underground, to create electricity for data centres.

And instead of letting all that extra heat escape, some places are even capturing it to warm nearby houses, turning waste heat into cozy heat!

Keeping cool

Another idea is to cool the machines in smarter ways. A big chunk of a data centre’s energy goes into keeping the computers from overheating, so better cooling means less power overall. One new system being tested could save enough electricity each year to power about 700 homes.

Saving water

Can we use less water to cool our data centres? Scientists and engineers around the world are working hard on this question. One exciting project in Hong Kong is giving it a try. Instead of using clean drinking water, the new data centre will use recycled water from a nearby treatment plant. This water isn’t safe to drink, but it’s perfect for cooling machines. By doing this, they hope to save enough fresh water to meet the daily drinking needs of about 3,000 people. Keeping the computers cool and saving precious drinking water. Pretty cool, right?

AI Helping us use LESS energy

Even AI itself is helping make data centres more planet-friendly! Smart computer programs can watch the temperature and control the airflow inside the buildings. That way the machines stay cool while using the least possible energy. AI helping AI be greener! 

Government Ideas

It’s not just tech companies and scientists who are trying to solve this problem. Governments around the world want to make sure data centres don’t cause even bigger problems. In India, where Mekaguda is, the government is working with a company to try out new ideas that could save nearly half the energy and 90% of the water that data centres normally use.

FInal thoughts

As you can see, there are lots of clever ideas for making data centres, and the way we use the internet and AI, greener. But some people worry it still might not be enough. We are using so much data and building so many new data centres that the problems could keep growing if we’re not careful.

For the farmers in Mekaguda, the fight isn’t over. They are still waiting to hear what the court decides. And all around the world, people are watching closely, asking the same big question: How can we enjoy the amazing things AI can do while protecting the planet and the people who live near these giant machines?

Tonights Dinner Table Discussion

Here’s some ideas to spark a fascinating family discussion.

  • How do you think the farmers in Mekaguda feel when a huge data centre is built near their home?
  • How do you think a small village can stand up to a huge company like Microsoft? What would you do if you were the farmers?
  • Can you think of clever ways to save water while still keeping computers cool? Why is water so important for both people and animals?
  • If AI keeps growing, what kinds of problems and solutions do you imagine for the planet and for people?

Big Family Question:

Is it fair that one big building can affect so many people? How could everyone share water and electricity fairly?

Science is awesome. So is asking questions.

Learn how to spot real discoveries from made-up ones with our easy 4-step checklist.
It’s fun, printable and free! Grab yours below.

NEVER MISS A DISCOVERY-Loved learning how giant data centres help AI and how they can affect our planet?
Sign up for our newsletter and keep exploring the amazing world of clever technology and the big ideas that shape our future.

Keep Exploring

Want to keep exploring amazing inventions?
Check out these other fun stories to see how clever technology is changing the planet we all share.

10 surprising ways AI could help us live longer, healthier lives.

Can a Camera Think Like a Robot and See Like a Fly?

Let’s Talk About It

What surprised you most about data centres and how they use water and power?
Post your ideas or questions below and see what other curious readers think too.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *