Google developers significantly misstate CO2 emissions of UK datacentres
17 hours ago
- #carbon emissions
- #AI datacentres
- #UK environment
- Google and Greystoke misstated carbon emissions of proposed AI datacentres by comparing one year of datacentre emissions with the UK's five-year carbon budget, understating impact by a factor of five.
- Three datacentres (Thurrock, North Weald in Essex, and Elsham Tech Park in Lincolnshire) will account for over 1% of the UK's 2033 carbon budget, equivalent to emissions of a mid-sized city like Bristol.
- Experts from nonprofit Foxglove highlighted errors, calling Google's figures 'dubious' and potentially misleading to councils and the public regarding climate pollution.
- This follows broader issues with faulty calculations around AI development and environmental impact in the UK, including a tenfold discrepancy in government estimates on datacentre energy use.
- Greystoke acknowledged the discrepancy and plans to submit revised figures, while Google did not comment; all developments are classified as having a 'minor adverse' impact on UK climate goals.