DATA CENTERS VERSUS ENERGY, WATER, NOISE, AND HEAT CONSUMPTION

By: Jorge Varela Márquez

1999 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner
Tegucigalpa, Honduras | September 13, 2026

ABSTRACT

This article explains what a Data Center, or “Data Center,” is, as well as its benefits and adverse impacts. It suggests laws and regulations that can be used to reject, approve, or mitigate its negative impacts. If the law is ignored, citizen protest is justified in the pursuit of harmony among businesses, communities, and government.

WHAT IS A DATA CENTER?

A Data Center (DC), or “Data Center,” is an information center where data is stored, processed, distributed, and disseminated from a specialized building, such as the TIGO facility in Tegucigalpa, or the complex that is intended to be installed in the unconstitutional ZEDE Próspera, near the Garífuna community of Satuyé, Atlántida.

Data is processed by “servers,” which are large computers that never shut down. Therefore, they consume large amounts of electricity and/or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Both energy sources generate substantial amounts of heat.

For this reason, servers must be cooled continuously using “chillers,” that is, industrial air-conditioning systems. In addition to consuming large amounts of electricity and/or LNG, these systems also use significant quantities of water and generate constant noise.

The water used to cool the servers becomes heated. To cool it, the water is sent to “cooling towers.” From there, part of the water returns cold to the chillers and continues through the cycle, while the rest is lost through evaporation and other causes.

The permanent transmission services we use for social media, television programs, Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet, etc., are called “streaming.” “Hubs” are Internet cable junctions used to distribute data throughout a country or region. And to store servers, like books on a shelf, racks are used.

A DC operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24/7). It continuously consumes large quantities of electricity and/or LNG and water. In the process, it generates noise exceeding 80 decibels, heat, and additional CO₂ emissions.

BENEFITS

A DC provides businesses, government, and the public with efficiency, security, greater connectivity, and improved connectivity. It stores, manages, and distributes information used by banking, industry, government, commerce, and for television, the Internet, social media, videos, AI, etc.

During the construction phase, members of the local community are employed. During the operational phase, technicians and specialists are required.

ADVERSE IMPACTS

DCs consume large amounts of electricity and abundant quantities of water 24/7, while producing continuous noise.

Servers operate constantly. When electricity fails, as is common in Honduras, the equipment must continue operating with LNG, which also generates CO₂ emissions.

And constant water is needed to cool the servers! DCs that operate with AI, as would be the case with the unconstitutional ZEDE Próspera in Satuyé, require up to ten times more water than those that use electricity alone.

Continuous operation produces noise that can exceed 90 dB, comparable to the noise of a heavily trafficked highway. Operating with AI and generating 100 dB appears likely to be the case with the unconstitutional ZEDE PRÓSPERA.

WATER

If freshwater is taken from local communities, this will increase the risk of depleting the sources they depend on for their survival, while also harming agriculture, livestock production, and tourism.

If seawater is used as the primary energy source, there are two risks:

1. Thermal discharge: The water is returned to the sea several degrees warmer. This can damage corals, fish, plankton, other marine life, and even mangroves.
2. Brine: If the water is also desalinated for other uses, the resulting waste is highly concentrated brine. Discharging it into the sea can cause serious damage to the ecosystem.

These negative impacts can be reduced if the ignorance of the population and/or government corruption is not exploited, and if appropriate technology is applied in accordance with science, the law, and mitigation measures.

LAWS TO BE CONSIDERED BEFORE INSTALLING A DATA CENTER

Among others, the following laws and legal instruments can be consulted and applied:

1. General Environmental Law, Decree 104-93: Articles 9, 90, 99, and 103 can be used to require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Articles 29 and 62 address the role of municipalities.
2. Municipalities Law and Regulations of the Environmental Law: For local participation.
3. Forestry and Micro-Watersheds Law: For the protection of water sources.
4. ILO Convention No. 169: Prior, Free, and Informed Consultation with Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, as in the case of Satuyé.
5. Judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice, Constitutional Chamber: RI-CSJ-0738-2021, dated September 20, 2024. It declares Próspera unconstitutional with retroactive effect.
6. United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
7. Escazú Agreement: Pending signature by Honduras, concerning access to information and public participation in environmental matters.

Through these laws and legal instruments, measures can be demanded to mitigate negative impacts and promote healthy, fair, and sustainable development of Data Centers.

Otherwise, we can follow the example of several communities in the United States that protested and forced these Data Centers to close, as well as the dismissal of the officials who approved them while ignoring the need to enforce the law.

THE WATER AND ENERGY CRISES ARE WORSENING! DO WE REMAIN SILENT, OR DO WE ACT?

Sources: Technical data on AI. Documented cases of Data Centers in the United States and Latin America. Supreme Court of Justice of Honduras.