Asia is weighing data-centre ambitions against sustainability
Malaysia and Singapore illustrate the region’s resource balancing act
The jungles of Johor, a Malaysian state, were cleared to grow pepper in the 1800s. After that came rubber and oil-palm plantations, followed by factories making electronics. Today data centres are thriving there, and are embroiled in a geopolitical tussle between America and China. But in Johor, other concerns are on people’s minds: how to make the data-centre boom sustainable.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “A glitch in the matrix”
Asia October 12th 2024
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