Blog Post

The earth is a comfortable place for living things because of the greenhouse effect.
It maintains the right temperatures for humans, plants and animals to survive.

How does this greenhouse effect occur?

Similar to a greenhouse with glass walls and a glass roof used to house plants.

The clear glass allows sunlight to shine into the greenhouse, while also trapping the Sun's heat inside.

This is how a greenhouse keeps plants warm, even at night and in the winter.

The greenhouse effect keeps Earth warm in pretty much the same way.

Instead of glass, the earth is surrounded by gasses called the atmosphere.

In the daytime, the Sun shines through the atmosphere warming Earth's surface.

After the Sun goes down, Earth's surface cools.

This releases heat back into the air.

But, some of that heat is trapped by the gases in the atmosphere.

These heat-trapping gases are called greenhouse gases.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂), water vapor and methane (CH₄) are all examples of greenhouse gases.

Earth needs a balance of greenhouse gases to maintain just the right temperature for living things.

But, some human activities are changing Earth's natural greenhouse effect.

For example, burning fossil fuels – like coal and oil – releases more carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.

Even farming practises of replacing forests with pastures and methane producing beef cattle.

These extra greenhouse gases can cause the atmosphere to trap more and more heat, leading to a warmer Earth.

How much CO2 is in the atmosphere?

A recent episode of ABC Lab Notes titled Why CO₂ peaks at this time of year explained the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere-:

Pre-Industrial times 280 ppm now (2025) 420 ppm.

The greenhouse effect:

• Solar radiation reaches Earth: Sunlight passes through the atmosphere and warms the planet's surface.
• Earth emits infrared radiation: The warmed surface radiates energy back toward space in the form of infrared light.
• Greenhouse gases absorb infrared: Molecules like carbon dioxide CO₂, methane CH₄, and water vapor absorb some of this outgoing infrared radiation.
• Molecular vibration traps energy: These gases vibrate when they absorb infrared photons, temporarily trapping the energy.
• Re-radiation in all directions: The gases then re-emit the energy, some of which goes back toward Earth's surface, warming it further.

What is a Carbon Footprint?

A Carbon Footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions.

The average Carbon Footprint for a person in the United States is 14 tons, one of the highest rates in the world.
(Australia 15 tons - India 1.9 tons - UK 5 tons)

Globally, the average carbon footprint is closer to 4 tons.

To have the best chance of avoiding a 2º Celsius rise in global temperatures, the average global carbon footprint per year needs to drop to under 2 tons by 2050.

The average American or Australian produces the same amount of emissions in under two days as the average person in Mali or Niger does in an entire year.

No threat to farm land: just 1,200 square kilometres can fulfil Australia's solar and wind energy needs...
The area devoted to agriculture is about 3,500 times larger at 4.2 million square kilometres.
iceds.anu.edu.au

Getting to Net Zero

"Net zero by 2050" is a global goal under the Paris Agreement, aiming to balance greenhouse gas emissions produced and removed from the atmosphere, to limit global warming to 1.5°C–2°C.

There is a growing movement in several countries to challenge, delay, or dilute commitments to net zero emissions by 2050. This is not a unified global movement. It is mainly driven by political, economic, and ideological factors.

Data Centres - A Growing Pressure on Australia's Energy Grid

While individuals and businesses work to reduce their carbon footprint, a much larger energy challenge is emerging across Australia - the rapid rise of data centres powered by artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Just this week (Aug 2026), a $31.9 billion hyper-scale data centre was proposed for the Western Downs in regional Queensland - earmarked for a 725-hectare site near Dalby, approximately 250 kilometres north-west of Brisbane. If approved, it would be the largest data centre facility in Australia.

How Much Energy Do Data Centres Actually Use?

The scale of energy demand from data centres is difficult to comprehend. Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) figures show data centres could account for as much as 13 per cent of total national electricity demand by 2040 - and AEMO's projected demand from data centres in 2040 increased more than fivefold between its 2024 and 2025 reports alone.

• There are currently around 90 more data centres in the pipeline across Australia beyond those already operational.
• The federal government endorsed 15 data centre projects worth $51.9 billion for prioritised support through the approvals process in March 2026.
• Amazon alone announced plans to invest $20 billion between 2025 and 2029 to expand Australian data centre infrastructure.
• If data centres are built without additional renewable capacity, national electricity grid emissions could be 14% higher than they would otherwise be in 2035.

The Queensland Question

The proposed Western Downs Digital Park near Dalby highlights the real tension between economic opportunity and environmental responsibility. The site is strategically located near major regional power stations, but concerns have been raised about both energy consumption and water security - the facility would require approximately 522 kilolitres of water per day during construction alone.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific has warned that Australia's rapid acceptance of data centre proposals risks derailing the country's energy transition, citing the failure to effectively offset energy usage with renewables as a significant concern.

The Renewable Energy Opportunity

It isn't all bad news. Data centres do present a significant opportunity if managed correctly. Amazon's Australian data centre expansion includes 11 renewable energy projects across NSW, Queensland and Victoria - once operational, expected to deliver 1.4 million megawatt hours of carbon-free electricity annually, enough to power approximately 290,000 Australian homes.

The challenge is ensuring renewable capacity keeps pace with demand. As individuals, the choices we make - from the energy provider we choose, to whether we install solar panels, to how we charge our electric vehicles - all contribute to the broader energy mix that data centres and the rest of the economy draw from.

Solar Panels - generating your own clean electricity reduces demand on the grid directly.

EV Home Charging - charging overnight on off-peak rates or during the day from solar reduces transport emissions significantly.

Energy Efficient Appliances - LED lighting, efficient air conditioning, and smart home systems reduce household demand on the grid year-round.

References and Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN5-DnOHQmE NASA
www.nature.org
https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/plans-for-australia-largest-data-centre-in-regional-queensland/107071624 ABC News
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/what-does-the-data-centre-boom-mean-for-australias-switch-to-renewables/ Climate Council Australia