<
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/25/planned-datacentres-carbon-emissions-uk-exxonmobil>
"The carbon emissions from just two planned datacentres in England will exceed
all of the fossil fuel company ExxonMobil’s UK emissions, analysis has
revealed.
Experts have said this demonstrates the “serious threat” datacentres pose to
the UK’s legally binding climate goals.
Analysis by the non-profit group Foxglove reveals that when fully operational,
the Wapseys Wood datacentre in Buckinghamshire and the Quest Park datacentre in
Bedfordshire will use 1.3GW of power and will produce more than 4.5m tonnes of
carbon emissions.
ExxonMobil emitted 3.9m tonnes in 2023, according to the global energy
thinktank Ember.
AI datacentres use a massive amount of electricity to power servers and cooling
equipment, and to run facility systems. There are currently 315 datacentres in
the queue to connect to the UK’s electricity grid, representing 73GW of demand.
This is almost double the peak winter energy demand for the entire UK.
Because of the long wait to connect to the grid, the Wapseys Wood and Quest
Park datacentres are seeking to build their own on-site gas-fired power
stations.
Based on government figures on the carbon intensity of electricity generation,
Foxglove has calculated these projects will produce 4.577m tonnes of carbon
emissions per year."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
