The Bad PlaceThe Guardian | Google developers significantly misstate carbon emissions of proposed UK datacentres by Aisha Down and Priya Bharadia
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Developers for Google’s two proposed AI datacentres in Essex (Thurrock and North Weald) and Greystke’s Elsham Tech Park in north Lincolnshire have dramatically understated their carbon impact, comparing one year of emissions with the UK’s five‑year carbon budget and thereby inflating the apparent environmental performance by roughly a factor of five; in reality the three projects will together account for over 1 % of the nation’s carbon budget in 2033 – the equivalent of emissions from a mid‑sized city such as Bristol – with the Thurrock site emitting more than an international airport and Elsham’s peak output reaching about 1 million tonnes of CO₂e, just shy of all UK domestic flights, despite the developers’ claims that the facilities will have a tolerable or minor adverse impact on the country’s climate goals.
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