The article by Louise Morris from The Australia Institute criticizes the Australian government's data centre policy. While the government says new data centres must run on renewables, it allows gas peaking and firming, which could be offset using Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). This loophole could let gas-backed data centres claim to be green. Morris points out that the Safeguard Mechanism allows big emitters to buy ACCUs instead of cutting emissions, and fossil fuel projects buy about two thirds of all ACCUs. She also discusses the Minns Principle from NSW, which prevents coal and gas companies from buying credits from a native forest project, but it only applies in that state. She argues the federal government should extend this principle to all ACCUs. The article highlights the risk of new ACCU methods, especially native forest credits, which could provide cheap offsets for gas peaking. With over 5 GW of data centre demand in transmission approval, the question of how to account for gas emissions is urgent. Morris calls on Minister Bowen to close the loophole and ensure data centres genuinely run on renewables and storage, not gas with offsets.
