Plans to build dozens of artificial intelligence (AI) data centres across Scotland could make the facilities the country’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, potentially consuming more than half of its remaining carbon budget, environmental campaigners have warned.
Friends of the Earth Scotland released estimates examining the potential environmental impact of 23 proposed data centre developments currently undergoing planning consideration by local authorities.
According to the organisation, approving all 23 projects could result in annual greenhouse gas emissions of 14 million tonnes by 2030, with cumulative emissions reaching an estimated 208 million tonnes over the facilities’ operational lifetimes.
The group calculated that this would account for approximately 51% of Scotland’s remaining carbon budget of 406 million tonnes, established by the Scottish government as part of its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2045.
The analysis also suggested that Scotland’s existing data centre capacity, currently estimated at around 50 megawatts, could expand 182-fold to approximately 9,100 megawatts if every proposed development proceeds.
Kim Pratt, a senior campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, warned that the scale of the proposed expansion could undermine the country’s climate commitments.
“Data centres risk torpedoing Scotland’s climate plans. If ministers approved all these projects, every other sector of Scottish life would have to cut its climate pollution further and faster,” Pratt told The National.
“We can’t allow our remaining climate budget to be wasted on AI slop instead of vital services, food production and things people genuinely need,” she added.
Environmental organisations have also raised concerns about the potential strain on Scotland’s electricity infrastructure as demand for computing power increases.
Kat Jones, director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland, warned that constructing all the hyperscale data centres currently awaiting electricity grid connections could dramatically increase national energy consumption.
“If every hyperscale data centre in the grid queue was to be built it would triple Scotland’s peak energy demand, we would see new records set for air pollution, and the process of decarbonising our economy would be set back by decades,” Jones said.
The warnings come amid growing debate over the environmental consequences of expanding AI infrastructure, particularly the substantial electricity requirements of large-scale computing facilities.
The campaigners’ estimates represent projections based on the approval and development of all proposed facilities rather than emissions from existing operations.