Lidegaard Opens a Necessary Debate on Digital Dependence, but the Problem Runs Deeper

Martin Lidegaard’s proposal to put Danish and European data centers ahead of American facilities in the queue for Danish electricity capacity addresses a real concern, but it does not go far enough, the commentary argues.

The question should not rest only on the nationality of the companies that own data centers. It should also ask what these facilities contribute to the society around them. Data centers consume large amounts of electricity, yet almost all of that power becomes heat. That heat, the piece argues, should be much easier to recover and reuse.

Modern water-cooling systems could capture heat close to computer processors and distribute it elsewhere. But technology alone is not the goal. Future data centers should become active parts of energy systems and urban structures rather than simply occupying land, electricity and grid capacity.

New facilities should have to document high energy efficiency, flexible power consumption and binding agreements for using surplus heat. Their location and design should reflect those requirements. One proposed model is a “data village” that groups smaller, modular centers near cities and water, allowing cooling, fast response times and surplus heat to be planned around local needs.

The idea appears in a report on the “Data Center of the Future,” prepared in part by Lenovo with architecture firm Mamou-Mani. The commentary points to an existing example in Odense, where surplus heat from Meta’s data center supplies about 11,000 households, according to Fjernvarme Fyn. It argues that this model should become a requirement for future data centers, not an optional municipal arrangement. Digital sovereignty, it concludes, involves not only who builds the facilities, but also how the infrastructure is shaped.