Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Those were interesting presentations. The data piece struck me. We have focused a lot on energy production but to drill down into the question on demand, the fact is that all data are not the same, as we know. We know from the general data protection regulation, GDPR, that different kinds of data are treated differently. We know there is currently an artificial intelligence, AI, regulation moving through the European system about what algorithmic uses might be legitimate or otherwise. It is worth noting that training algorithms has measurable costs equivalent to numerous transatlantic flights. There are certain uses of data. I worry sometimes when we say that we want the connectivity, public services and all the other great uses for data because part of the drilling down is not only around the energy usage but is also around drilling down on the demand side and into what are efficient uses of data and what are redundant uses of data simply to maximise profit. The mining of cryptocurrency would be an example of the latter. Is that something anyone can afford in terms of energy anywhere in the world?

I am sympathetic to the idea of a moratorium until we put in place a clear picture of the regulations we are going to have around responsible data usage. What prioritisation will we have if we have energy crunches and how will that apply to particular data usages? When we are considering building data centres, we really need to keep the policy space for regulating how they are used. It is easier to do that before hostages to fortune have been created by effectively giving blank-slate planning permission. There are strong arguments for the moratorium, including the mitigation measures that others have mentioned and the need for an intersection of environmental and ethical data regulation.

Good and necessary data uses can be a cover for unnecessary uses. In a similar way, perhaps we need to stop saying "hydrogen" and either say "green hydrogen" or "grey hydrogen". I worry that green hydrogen, which is still a very small portion of the big picture - and perhaps we can clarify that - is used as a cover for grey hydrogen, which ultimately means fossil fuels and can serve as an accelerant in terms of heating.

I wish to ask about the Energy Charter Treaty.