The Elsham datacentre in Lincolnshire, costing £10bn, is set to cater to rising AI demands but may produce emissions surpassing five major international airports. With an expected energy consumption of 3.7bn kWh and annual CO2 emissions of 857,254 tonnes, its impact raises concerns. To alleviate some heat generated, plans for glasshouses yielding over 10 tons of tomatoes daily are under consideration. As global tech companies struggle with carbon neutrality, Greenpeace urges concurrent renewable energy developments with new datacentres, emphasizing the environmental implications of AI expansion.
By 2030, carbon dioxide emissions from AI datacentres will be six times the 2023 level, according to research by the Oko-Institut in Germany.
Greenpeace has called for commensurate renewable energy capacity to be added to national grids at the same time as new datacentres are built.
Microsoft recently admitted that five years after it committed to becoming zero carbon by 2030, its total emissions had risen by 23% due to factors including AI expansion.
The datacentre will also create so much excess heat that glasshouses are being proposed with capacity to produce more than 10 tonnes of tomatoes a day.
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