Surrey researchers urge satellite checks before AI data center approvals
Satellite data may assist in identifying sites for the data centers behind AI growth, pointing to where renewable power, water and land are available and where drought and climate risks run highest, University of Surrey researchers said.
The team, writing in Nature Reviews Clean Technology, said Earth observation should become a required input when governments, regulators and investors plan, run and check the clean energy transition. Much of this satellite-gathered information goes underused, they said.
The authors want governments and regulators to make satellite evidence mandatory in renewable energy zoning, infrastructure permitting, climate-risk screening and environmental impact assessment, especially for projects touching land, water, biodiversity or grid access.
Such evidence should back up these decisions, not stand in for ground data, local knowledge or official reporting, the researchers added.
Source: techxplore.com (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink