Source: The Guardian

Scotland’s policy framework allows datacentre projects to be described as “green” even where their emissions impacts are not counted, according to Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS). APRS says the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) treats such datacentres as having an “overall negligible impact” on greenhouse gas targets based on analysis carried out in 2022 that it asserts has not been updated since the release of ChatGPT. The 2022 analysis reportedly concluded any rise in emissions from datacentre use would be offset by reduced travel, a premise APRS contends does not account for recent AI-driven increases in energy demand. APRS highlighted a planning submission for an Edinburgh datacentre that described the facility as “green” despite plans for 200 diesel backup generators, which APRS equated to the pollution of 100,000 idling cars. A planning committee is reported to have accepted that project’s “green” claim while acknowledging NPF4 contains no formal definition of “green datacentres”. Kat Jones, director of APRS, is quoted saying the carbon footprint of hyperscale datacentres was “completely excluded” from the planning framework’s greenhouse gas analysis.

More than a dozen datacentres are seeking planning permission, including an AI growth zone in Lanarkshire claimed to be backed by £8.2bn in private investment and projects that together could demand roughly 6.2GW of power — about one-and-a-half times Scotland’s winter peak. Energy-company representatives reportedly confirmed that over 100 datacentre projects have requested gas connections, which APRS interprets as an intention to burn gas because of long waits to connect to the strained National Grid. The National Energy System Operator (Neso) chief executive Fintan Slye is quoted encouraging datacentre developers to build in Scotland to take advantage of a higher share of renewables and fewer grid constraints. APRS warns that branding projects as “green” and aligning them with Scotland’s goals could lead local authorities to give favourable treatment even where emissions remain significant. A Scottish government spokesperson is quoted saying Scotland has strengths for green datacentres and aims to secure investment that aligns with net zero ambitions and delivers community benefits. The coverage frames a dispute over transparency and planning-policy gaps concerning how “green” datacentres are defined and how their emissions are accounted for in official analyses.