Based on the current rate of adoption, Europe's data centre power consumption is expected to almost triple to more than 150 terawatt hours (TWh) by the end of the decade from around 62 TWh today.

In the meantime, the data-centre bonanza goes on. To stay on top of the biggest stories in business and technology, sign up to the Bottom Line, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.

Of the predicted growth in consumption, developing economies will account for around 5% by 2030, while advanced economies will account for more than 20% (see ‘Data-centre energy growth’).

Deep Green estimates that if just 1% of the UK’s current data centre demand ran on its servers, it could heat every pool in the country. The technology also has big potential beyond leisure centres.

The decision to build or rent may depend on a user’s data intensity. Consider a firm in America with a medium-sized data centre which thinks its computing load will rise roughly four-fold over a ...