Source The Guardian · Published · Open the original ↗
Safety
AI datacentres plan on-site power stations on huge scale despite climate risks, research reveals
181GW of gas-fired capacity proposed for sites in US and Europe because of delays in connecting to national grids, says report
Developers of AI datacentres plan to build on-site climate-destroying gas power stations on a huge scale to meet their energy demands, research reveals.
Datacentres planned across the US, the UK and mainland Europe have proposals to build fossil fuel plants on-site to create 181GW of gas-fired capacity because of delays to connect to national grids, according to the findings. This is almost four times the total peak electricity demand of Great Britain.
The research by BloombergNEF says this “speed to power” will - if the planned rollout happens - emit about 345m metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year in the US, where 90% of on-site gas-fired power stations are planned. This is equivalent to annual greenhouse gas emissions from about 72.8m fossil fuel cars.
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