Google AI Datacentre Emissions Understated Five‑Fold
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- Google submitted planning documents for two UK AI datacres that compare one year's emissions to the UK's five‑year carbon budget, understating impact by a factor of five, per Foxglove analysis.
- Google's Thurrock datacentre was reported to emit 0.033% of the UK’s carbon budget (2028‑2032) but actually would emit 0.165%, a five‑fold under‑estimation.
- Google's North Weald datacentre was reported to emit 0.043% of the UK’s carbon budget (2033‑2037) but would actually emit 0.215%, also a five‑fold under‑estimation.
- Foxglove head Tim Squirrell warned the miscalculations mislead the council and public, noting the three projects together would consume >1% of the UK’s 2033 carbon budget, akin to a city like Bristol.
- Greystoke’s planned Elsham Tech Park datacentre in north Lincolnshire appears to have used the same flawed calculation method, contributing to the overall >1% carbon budget share.
Why it matters: UK regulators and climate activists lose accurate data on AI datacentre emissions, while Google avoids stricter scrutiny; the under‑stated >1% share of the 2033 carbon budget could impede the UK’s net‑zero timeline.
