Image description: An aerial view of a data center located in Colraine, Northern Ireland. Photo by Geoffrey Moffett on Unsplash
New inquiry launched into the environmental impact of data centres in the UK
MPs have launched a new inquiry on the environmental impacts of data centres in the UK, as Energy Secretary Ed Miliband says future energy demand from data centres “remains inherently uncertain”.
Amongst the issues the Environmental Audit Committee’s new inquiry will examine will be how much energy and water data centres are likely to use, and how this could impact the Government’s net zero goals.
Data centers key to government’s plans for economic growth
Data centres are regarded by ministers as being central to UK economic growth and were designated critical national infrastructure (CNI) in September 2024, offering them more legal protections. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also previously announced plans to make the UK a “world leader” in Artificial Intelligence (AI). But their electricity consumption is expected to quadruple by 2030, according to the National Energy System Operator, and they could put already stretched supplies of drinking water under further strain, raising concerns about their sustainability.
Government is estimating future demand for data centres and testing “a range of trajectories”
The UK government is under a legal obligation to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, after a law change passed in 2019 with cross-party support.
The Committee has published a letter from Secretary of State for Energy Security Ed Miliband, responding to the EAC Chair’s concerns about data centres being omitted from the Government’s projections for the Seventh Carbon Budget (CB7).
In the letter, Mr Miliband says the government’s modelling for CB7 includes emissions from data centres but will also test “a range of trajectories”, given the uncertainty of future demand from data centres. It is the most detail Miliband has given yet on his department’s approach to factoring in the impact of data centres.
In their new inquiry, MPs will explore how growing AI use might accelerate the need for data centres and whether planning authorities will take account of their impact on the environment. They will also consider how new technologies could minimise their environmental impact and what lessons the UK could learn from other countries.
New report offers policy recommendations for regulating data centre water use
A report funded by the Strategic Panel’s Market Improvement Fund to understand water use in data centres has recommended a series of actions to improve sector water efficiency.
Delivered by the Water Research Centre (WRc), the report presents policy options such as introducing a reporting framework to include water use and water efficiency, registering data centres on a Critical National Infrastructure register and reducing barriers to using alternatives to drinking water for cooling, such as the use of treated sewage effluent. WRc emphasises that its recommendations should be interpreted in the context of data centres being “a growing sector and a prioritised area for economic growth, which is classed both as Critical National Infrastructure and an emerging industry”.
The Strategic Panel is the most senior governance group in the business water retail market providing strategic direction and overseeing programmes of work to improve business customer outcomes. The Panel commissioned WRc, an RSK Group company, to undertake the research project following their successful application to the MIF in Round 4. The Market Improvement Fund was set up to support innovative projects benefiting the non-household water market and its customers.
You can read the full report here.