Scotland imposes mandatory environmental assessments on new datacentres
Government announces before vote on moratorium that any projects above 50MW must submit assessments in planning processLarge-scale datacentres will fa...
UK datacentres will create just 25% of jobs predicted by tech sector, analysis finds
Facilities likely to employ 10,400 workers, compared with 40,000 in industry estimates, thinktank saysDatacentres in the UK will create just a quarter...
Wednesday briefing: What’s behind the global backlash against datacentres?
In today’s newsletter: Communities from Scotland to India are pushing back against datacentres they feel have been forced upon them, warning they thre...
Labour rejects Zack Polanski’s call to ‘slam brakes’ on building AI datacentres
Government says Green leader’s proposed moratorium on ‘energy-guzzling’ AI projects would be disaster for economyLabour has rejected calls to pause co...
Two planned datacentres will have higher UK carbon emissions than ExxonMobil, analysis finds
Exclusive: Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire sites predicted to emit 4.5m tonnes a year when fully runningThe carbon emissions from just two planned da...
Chris Bowen vows to override Queensland and NT to force renewables-powered AI datacentres
Energy minister says Australian households and energy reliability will be protected by new federal legislation Energy minister Chris Bowen says the fe...
Queensland and NT reject Labor’s push to ensure that power-hungry AI datacentres use renewable energy
Federal-state stoush comes as rating agency warns that electricity bills could skyrocketFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our ...
Anthony Albanese promises fast-track approvals for datacentres to shore up AI investment
PM to declare Australia the first country worldwide to bring economic, social, security and environmental issues from AI under single office in major ...
Datacentres drive emissions of Microsoft, Amazon and Google to half those of France
All three companies say they still aim to achieve net zero carbon output despite construction boomMicrosoft, Amazon and Google’s collective carbon emi...
Rapid demand for AI datacentres in Australia could stoke inflation, experts warn – and crowd out land for housing
Calls are growing for new datacentre approvals to be halted until stronger protections are consideredGet our breaking news email, free app or daily ne...
Datacentres facing increase in global climate-related legal cases, report finds
LSE analysis highlights litigation linked to energy sources, water consumption and air pollutionThe proliferation of datacentres and AI is increasingl...
Irish datacentres have increased household bills by hundreds of euros, report finds
Growing fleet of datacentres last year used 22% of the country’s electricityEnergy demand by datacentres in Ireland has added hundreds of euros to hou...
Definition of green facilities made in 2022, before release of ChatGPT, says Action to Protect Rural ScotlandA Scottish government policy designed to ...
Datacentres using 6% of electricity supply in UK and US, research says
Industry body says energy consumption driven by AI up 15% globally in two years as it warns of societal backlashDatacentres are consuming 6% of electr...
Google developers significantly misstate carbon emissions of proposed UK datacentres
Emissions understated by factor of five in Essex plans for tech giant, while Greystoke’s Lincolnshire plans show similar errorDevelopers working for G...
Hot weather and hungry datacentres lift Australia’s energy demand to record highs but batteries quell prices
Rise in electricity demand in first quarter of 2026 was moderated by record output from rooftop solarGet our breaking news email, free app or daily ne...
UK departments at odds over energy demands of AI datacentres
Discrepancy in forecasts raises questions over government planning for net zeroOne vision of the UK’s future involves a decarbonised economy powered b...
Officials hugely underestimated impact of AI datacentres on UK carbon emissions
Revised figures increase fears about how the energy-intensive sites could worsen the climate emergency The UK government vastly underestimated the cli...
