Datacentre developers in the UK are facing growing pressure to disclose whether new projects will increase the country’s net greenhouse gas emissions, as concerns mount that artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure could dramatically raise electricity demand.
Campaign groups have written to Technology Secretary Liz Kendall warning that the energy requirements of large-scale AI datacentres pose a “serious threat to efforts to decarbonise the electricity grid”.
The letter calls on developers to prove their schemes will not increase the UK’s overall CO2 emissions or worsen local water scarcity, as part of a forthcoming national policy statement (NPS) on datacentres.
“Without these commitments, such vast electricity use will inevitably generate vast climate emissions,” the campaigners write.
The letter is signed by Foxglove and five other non-governmental organisations, including Friends of the Earth.
The debate comes as MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee launch an inquiry into the environmental sustainability of datacentres. In correspondence published this week, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband acknowledged that future energy demand from datacentres “remains inherently uncertain”.
The UK is legally committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, meaning greenhouse gas emissions must be balanced by removal from the atmosphere.
Ofgem recently reported that electricity capacity requested by proposed datacentre schemes could exceed Great Britain’s current peak demand.
In a consultation, Ofgem said around 140 proposed AI-driven datacentres could require up to 50 gigawatts (GW) of electricity – roughly 5GW more than Britain’s existing peak consumption.
Planned developments at Elsham in Lincolnshire and Cambois in Northumberland are each expected to demand 1GW of electricity, equivalent to the output of a nuclear power station, according to the campaigners’ letter.
The UK is experiencing a surge in datacentre development amid rapid AI investment. These facilities underpin tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini, providing the computing power required to train and operate advanced AI systems.
However, datacentres consume large amounts of electricity to run servers and substantial volumes of water for cooling.
Campaigners highlighted a proposed Google datacentre in Essex that is expected to emit more than half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually – equivalent to around 500 short-haul flights each week.
“With an estimated 100-200 proposed new datacentres in the planning system already, it is crucial that the NPS fully acknowledges and addresses these challenges, to ensure that the public and the climate do not end up footing the environmental bill for these facilities,” the letter states.
The UK Government has set a target to create a virtually carbon-free electricity system by 2030, although rising energy costs have cast doubt over the timeline.
Campaigners are calling for a standard framework to calculate the environmental impact of datacentres and for developers to fund new renewable energy generation linked to their projects.
They also warned against “greenwashing”, such as relying on renewable energy certificates rather than building additional clean energy capacity.
A government spokesperson said datacentres are vital to economic growth and technological development.
“Datacentres will increasingly be powered by renewables and our AI energy council is exploring opportunities to attract investment in new clean power sources for the industry, while the planning system takes water scarcity into account,” the spokesperson said.