Emissions understated by factor of five in Essex plans for tech giant, while Greystoke’s Lincolnshire plans show similar error
Developers working for Google have significantly misstated the carbon emissions of two proposed AI datacentres in the UK, according to planning documents reviewed by .
The technology company aims to build two large datacentres: one spanning 52 hectares (130 acres) in Thurrock, Essex, and another at an airfield in North Weald, also in Essex. As part of the planning process, developers are required to submit documents estimating the carbon emissions of these projects as a proportion of the UK’s total carbon footprint.
In both cases, the developers appear to have compared one year of the proposed datacentre’s emissions with the UK’s entire five-year carbon budget, thereby understating the significance of their emissions by a factor of five, according to experts at the tech justice nonprofit Foxglove.
Similarly, Greystoke, a company planning to build another datacentre in north Lincolnshire—one of the largest in the UK—also appears to have misstated the emissions of its project in the same manner. Collectively, the three developments are projected to account for more than 1% of the UK’s carbon budget in 2033, which is equivalent to the emissions of a mid-sized city such as Bristol.
“Google has serious questions to answer about its dubious datacentre pollution figures,” said Tim Squirrell, the head of strategy for Foxglove, which discovered the errors. “By comparing one year of datacentre emissions with five years of UK emissions, they’re making the environmental impact look five times smaller than it really is.”
He added: “Unless they can explain themselves, it looks like they are seriously misleading the council and the public over the climate pollution their facility will cause.”
These apparent misstatements add to a growing number of faulty calculations related to AI development and its environmental footprint in the UK. Last month, reported on a significant discrepancy between the government’s plan to decarbonise the economy and its roadmap for AI computing.
The two government departments responsible for these plans appeared to differ on their estimates for how much energy UK datacentres will consume—by a factor of 10.
Google’s Thurrock datacentre, planned to be built on “grey belt” land, has claimed its emissions will amount to 0.033% of the UK’s budgeted carbon footprint between 2028 and 2032. However, its emissions during that period will actually be 0.165% of the total.
The North Weald datacentre, to be constructed on an airfield near Epping Forest, has stated it will emit 0.043% of the UK’s total carbon budget from 2033 to 2037, but the actual figure is 0.215% of the total.
Steven Heather, a local councillor, noted that the North Weald datacentre has only been granted outline planning permission so far, and the planning department will investigate Google’s proposals further.
“If there is a gross error, they’ll obviously pick up on it. When it goes to the submissions stage, the developers will have to come back with the proper figure.”
Greystoke’s Elsham Tech Park in north Lincolnshire has stated in planning documents that its emissions will be 0.1043% of the UK’s carbon budget in 2033, whereas the actual figure is 0.5215%.
Google and Greystoke have publicly argued that their developments will have a tolerable, and in some cases insignificant, impact on the UK’s climate roadmap. The developers of Elsham Tech Park have highlighted plans to improve biodiversity on the campus by installing bird and bat boxes and creating wildflower grassland.
All three developments are classified as having a “minor adverse” impact on the UK’s overall climate goals.
However, the Thurrock datacentre is expected to produce more emissions than an international airport, and Elsham Tech Park’s peak emissions will reach approximately 1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2033-34—just below the 1.2 million tonnes of carbon emissions generated by all UK domestic flights.
Google representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement to , Greystoke appeared to acknowledge the discrepancy, saying:
“We expect to submit revised figures to the local planning authority as part of the planning process.”
Elsham Tech Park added that its development would “see £10bn of private investment, generating thousands of well-paid operational and construction jobs in the region, and supporting local supply chains”.
