“Just one of these new ‘hyperscale’ facilities can generate climate emissions equivalent to several international airports. And in the UK alone, there are an estimated 100-200 of them in the planning system.”
The IEA has reported that the largest AI-focused datacentres being built today will each consume as much electricity as 2m households with the US accounting for the largest share of datacentre electricity consumption (45%) followed by China (25%) and Europe (15%).
The largest datacentre being planned in the
UK, at a former coal power station site in Blyth, Northumberland, is expected to emit more than 180,000 tonnes of CO2 a year when at full operation – the equivalent to the amount produced by more than 24,000 homes.