![\"An](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\")
<\/a>An existing data centre in South Gyle \u2013 the largest in Scotland \u2013 in Edinburgh, run by Pulsant (C) Google<\/p>\nConcerns have been raised that, following a planning application for the first of these data centres near Edinburgh airport, no EIA was required, despite estimations that the data centres could use the equivalent energy of more than 500,000 homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Councillor Mumford hopes to gain clarity from the council on its rules around screening developments requiring significant energy supply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In her motion, Mumford claims that there is a \u201cgrowing body of evidence\u201d around the environmental impact of data centres in the UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her motion was prompted by concerns raised in the press and the public that gluttonous data centres could use so much energy that their demand will be unable to be met by renewable energy alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This would set back the UK, Scotland, and Edinburgh\u2019s net zero ambitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chas Booth, Edinburgh Council Green Group climate spokesperson, said today: \u201cGiven the substantial energy and water consumption of these proposed data centres, it is unbelievable that the council does not require an energy impact assessment for these sorts of developments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m also concerned that the promise of renewable energy to power these developments will prove to be either completely unworkable and result in an increased reliance on fossil fuel generators, or will have a significant impact on the energy supplies for people and households in the surrounding area.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur motion is an attempt both to get clarity on where responsibility for governing this vast energy use sits, and to ensure that \u2013 if they go ahead \u2013 developers seeking to bring data centres to Edinburgh are required to invest in renewable energy security for the local area.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s data centre infrastructure has expanded rapidly over the years, with 500 data centres now being operational across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following Scotland\u2019s identification as a \u201cdata hotspot\u201d due to its existing expertise in AI and big data, expansion has accelerated north of the border, with 16 data centres now operational in Scotland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The BBC reported last week that Scotland\u2019s data centres and AI infrastructure now uses more than 13 million litres of water per year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scottish Water, however, pointed out that this only amounted to 0.005% of Scotland\u2019s water supply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition, the University of Edinburgh recently won its bid to establish and operate the UK AI Factory Antenna, a project which will \u201cfocus on helping organisations take their first steps in AI, increasing literacy in the technology and its use\u201d and show \u201chow it can help increase productivity and deliver economic growth\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In her motion, Councillor Mumford said: \u201cConcerns have been raised in the press and by constituents around the energy consumption of data centres, and appraisals from Council Officers on recent applications that environmental impact assessments have not been required.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a growing body of evidence around the environmental impact of data centres in the UK and concerns that increased energy demand cannot yet be met by renewable energy alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although data centre policy is ultimately decided by the UK and Scottish Governments, Councillor Mumford is requesting clarification, via a report from council officers, about Edinburgh Council\u2019s rules concerning AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edinburgh Council does not have an established position on AI, but, in 2024, it agreed that environmental considerations must play a role in the council\u2019s use of AI in its \u201cdigital and smart city strategy\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Booth continued: \u201cThese developments seem to be a classic example of the flawed \u2018growth is good\u2019 mentality that tells us that AI will lead to greater productivity without questioning at what cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a real danger that a national desire for this infrastructure could ride roughshod over local concerns and our long-standing commitments towards net zero.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt their heart, no matter how \u2018green\u2019 they may claim to be, use of mass data centres to fuel AI are an environmental disaster and no-one should fall for the greenwash of big tech.\u201d<\/p>\n
If accepted, this motion would see a report forwarded by council officers to the next Policy and Sustainability Committee \u201csetting out the relevant legislation and governance requirements relating to data centres, in particular relating to environmental and climate change impacts\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The motion will be heard at the full council meeting next Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE City of Edinburgh Council could be set to commission a report into the energy usage in AI…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[323,169839,748,1102,169840,169841,169842,55396,169843,4884,712,169844,92807,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-522877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-ai-centre-scotland","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-edinburgh","12":"tag-edinburgh-airport-data-centre","13":"tag-edinburgh-data-centre","14":"tag-edinburgh-environment","15":"tag-edinburgh-greens","16":"tag-environmentla-impact-assessment","17":"tag-great-britain","18":"tag-scotland","19":"tag-scotland-data-centre","20":"tag-scottish-greens","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115425085229514834","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/EDINBURGH_COUNCIL_DATA_CENTRES_DN01.jpg\"\/)
<\/a>An existing data centre in South Gyle \u2013 the largest in Scotland \u2013 in Edinburgh, run by Pulsant (C) Google<\/p>\n