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Goldilocks zone: Datacentres keep a close watch on the temperature inside their halls. Blue is too cold, green is just right, while red is cause for alarm.

Datacentres in the United States are getting a bad rap this year. Data Center Watch counted 75 projects, worth at least $130bn, blocked or delayed by communities since it started keeping records. In Cape Town, the Housing Assembly, a social movement, and UK non-profit Foxglove, which aims “to make tech fair for everyone”, filed a formal complaint in May with city planners opposing plans by US datacentre company Equinix to build two new facilities in the city. Equinix has bought 327 000sqm of land close to the airport, on which it plans to further its datacentre capacity by 160MW. Equinix told Reuters in June it had not yet submitted any planning applications to the city, and that it was committed to be fully transparent about the build. It declined to comment on the objections.

The civil society organisations say there is not enough information about the project, and Equinix had not provided any details about water use, emissions, electricity demand and noise and air pollution. Cape Town residents have particular sensitivities around water use, and the metro came perilously close to running out of water altogether in mid-2018. Equinix already has a 4MW facility close to the OR Tambo International Airport, of which it says it has 100% renewable energy coverage.