Data centres or net zero?

Lucy Klinkenberg-Matthews at Paragon asks whether the UK can have both net zero and a strong data centre industry

 

The UK’s digital ambitions are gathering pace. From the government’s new AI Opportunities Action Plan to the decision to classify data centres as critical national infrastructure, we’re seeing a surge in projects designed to power the UK as a digital leader. Yet, as the recent approval of the £10 billion Northumberland data centre project shows, all this infrastructure comes with a heavy carbon price tag.

 

The Northumberland development, set to become one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses, highlights the scale of the challenge. Once operational, it’s expected to emit as much CO₂ each year as Birmingham Airport—about 184,000 tonnes.

 

To put that in perspective, by 2030, the site could account for 12% of Northumberland’s total emissions and double the county’s industrial emissions. This is not an isolated case. Across the UK and Europe, the increase of data centres is making headlines, both for their economic promise and for their environmental impact.

 

 

Growth vs staying green

It’s easy to see why data centres are booming. They power everything from streaming your favourite show to facilitating life-saving medical research. In the UK alone, data centres are set to add £44 billion to the economy by 2035. Globally, bandwidth demand is expected to grow exponentially, largely driven by AI and cloud computing. But as data centres multiply, so do their energy needs and carbon footprints.

 

This is where the tension lies. On one hand, the government is right to champion digital infrastructure as important to the UK’s ambitions and growth potential. On the other hand, approving developments that could double local industrial emissions or put community climate targets out of reach simply isn’t compatible with the UK’s pledge to reach net zero by 2050.

 

The Northumberland project is a case in point. While it promises jobs and investment, it also risks locking in decades of emissions at a time when every tonne of CO₂ counts.

 

 

Why sustainability must be baked in

The challenge is not unique to the UK. Across Europe, the demand for data centre capacity could drive a 121 million-tonne surge in CO₂ emissions over the next six years—almost as much as all gas power plants in Italy, Germany, and the UK combined. If left unchecked, data centres could consume nearly 20% of new EU renewables by 2030, diverting clean power from other sectors that need it just as urgently.

 

The UK’s Clean Power Action Plan aims for a mostly fossil fuel-free grid by 2030, but the reality is that renewables aren’t always available when needed, and grid storage is still catching up. Until then, large developments like the Blyth data centre in Northumberland may still rely on fossil fuels, making it harder to cut emissions at the pace required. This is why it’s so important that sustainability isn’t an afterthought but is baked into every new project from the outset.

 

The most forward-thinking operators are already showing the way. They’re signing up to 100% renewable energy contracts, investing in highly efficient cooling systems that dramatically cut energy use, and exploring on-site solar and heat reuse to turn waste into a resource for local communities. Some are even switching their backup generators to low-carbon fuels like hydrotreated vegetable oil.

 

The industry standard for energy efficiency, known as Power Usage Effectiveness or PUE, is now around 1.5, but the best new sites are pushing even lower, showing that it’s possible to combine digital growth with climate responsibility. Innovations in cooling and refrigerants are also helping to cut emissions and comply with stricter EU standards.

 

Emerging technologies are also playing a significant role here. The rapid adoption of AI and machine learning workloads is driving up power demand, but it’s also spurring innovation. Direct-to-chip liquid cooling, battery energy storage systems, and even early exploration of small modular reactors are all being deployed to reduce emissions and improve operational efficiency. Next-generation computing technologies, like quantum and photonic processors, promise increases in computing power with potentially lower energy requirements, offering hope that future data centres could do more with less.

 

As these technologies continue to develop, operators should be taking technology options seriously to balance digital growth with environmental responsibility

 

 

Best practice for sustainable data centres

But voluntary action alone isn’t enough. The government must lead decisively, making sure that progress does not come at the expense of environmental responsibility. In a sector where the need for growth and fast decisions often outpaces the speed of regulation, it’s not enough to settle for minimum standards.

 

By adding sustainability criteria that exceed current regulations to projects like Northumberland, the government can set the bar for future regulation to catch up. Policy should incentivise best practice now, then bring regulation up to meet these higher standards over time. Without these measures, the risk is that short-term economic gains will lock in long-term carbon costs, threatening the very future that net zero ambitions are meant to protect.

 

There’s a lot of potential in the UK’s digital future, but it must also be green. By embedding sustainability into data centre projects from day one, we can build the infrastructure our economy needs without neglecting our climate goals. If we get this right, the UK can be a leader in both innovation and climate action.

 

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Lucy Klinkenberg-Matthews is Group ESG Director at Paragon

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and luchezar