The key facts

  • Greenpeace unfurled a 676 m² banner depicting Musk and Bezos at the STACK Infrastructure construction site in Beringen
  • The organization is demanding a nationwide moratorium on new mega data centers until binding regulations are adopted
  • According to Greenpeace's estimate, the two facilities in Beringen could consume about 1.5 times more electricity per year than the entire canton of Schaffhausen

Protest at a data center construction site

On November 6, Greenpeace held a demonstration in Beringen, Switzerland: activists unrolled a 676-square-meter banner on a field next to the construction site depicting Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos with the slogan 'The Big Tech brothers are sucking out our water, electricity and data.' This was reported by Euronews, which showed drone footage capturing campaign participants unrolling the banner. The facility near which the protest took place is being developed by the American company STACK Infrastructure.

Greenpeace's demands and arguments

The organization is demanding a nationwide moratorium on the construction of new mega data centers until binding regulations are adopted that protect the power supply, water resources and public interests. According to Greenpeace, the two facilities planned in Beringen could together consume about one and a half times more electricity per year than the entire canton of Schaffhausen, and would require significant volumes of water for cooling. The organization also raises the question of how the excess heat will be reused and who will ultimately benefit from the projects. The demonstration was part of an international campaign against the uncontrolled expansion of large data centers; similar actions are taking place across Europe.

What to keep in mind

The key figures — on electricity and water consumption — are cited from Greenpeace, an interested party in the protest; the available Euronews publications contain neither data from STACK Infrastructure itself, nor the position of the Swiss authorities, nor information on the stage of the projects' approval process. It is also unknown how the authorities will respond to the demand for a moratorium. The protest is not related to Uzbekistan and concerns the regulation of data centers in Switzerland and Europe.