Data Centres

• Gas turbine manufacturers are aggressively positioning themselves to power Europe's rapidly growing AI data center infrastructure using fossil fuels. • At the Datacloud Energy Europe conference in Brussels, industry leaders discussed strategies to integrate gas-powered energy to meet the massive electricity demands of AI. • Research from Global Energy Monitor highlights that companies like Mitsubishi Power Aero are already major turbine providers for the AI boom in the U.S., signaling a potential shift toward gas in Europe.

Industry body says energy consumption driven by AI up 15% globally in two years as it warns of societal backlashDatacentres are consuming 6% of electricity in the UK and US, with the growing strain of AI on energy supplies prompting community resistance, according to research.The proportion of electricity used by vast warehouses stacked with microchips to power AI and the internet has risen 15% worldwide in the past two years as annual global investment in datacentres approaches $1tn (£740bn) – nearly 1% of the global economy, according to the International Data Center Association (IDCA). Continue reading...

Emissions understated by factor of five in Essex plans for tech giant, while Greystoke’s Lincolnshire plans show similar errorDevelopers working for Google have significantly misstated how much carbon two proposed AI datacentres will contribute to the UK’s total emissions in planning documents reviewed by the Guardian.The tech company wants to build two huge datacentres – one 52-hectare (130 acre) project in Thurrock and another at an airfield in North Weald, both in Essex. To do so, developers are required to submit planning documents calculating how much carbon these projects will emit as a proportion of the UK’s total carbon footprint. Continue reading...

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 news podcastMore datacentres and warmer conditions helped push electricity demand to record highs in the first three months of the year, according to Australia’s Energy Market Operator, while growth in batteries kept average wholesale prices down.Electricity demand – from households, business and industry – reached record levels of 25GW in Q1 2026, an increase of 1.2% compared with the same quarter last year. Across the grid, this growth was offset by record output from rooftop solar. Continue reading...

Discrepancy in forecasts raises questions over government planning for net zeroOne vision of the UK’s future involves a decarbonised economy powered by clean, renewable energy. Another involves making the UK an AI superpower.The government departments responsible for these two visions do not appear to have agreed on their numbers. Continue reading...

Revised figures increase fears about how the energy-intensive sites could worsen the climate emergency The UK government vastly underestimated the climate impact of artificial intelligence, it has emerged, after officials raised their estimate of carbon emissions from the technology by a factor of more than 100.According to new data quietly published this week, energy use by AI datacentres in the UK could cause the emission of up to 123m tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO₂) – about as much as generated by 2.7 million people – over the next 10 years. Continue reading...

Tech company has signed on to nine deals as it aims to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAmazon has entered power agreements with nine new renewable projects in New South Wales and Victoria, as the technology company seeks to source renewable power for its datacentre operations in Australia.The nine deals, including one windfarm and 10 solar and battery projects, will take the amount of renewable energy Amazon is sourcing in Australia from 430MW to nearly 1GW. Continue reading...