UK government cannot say what its datacentres are used for

Asked which companies use the UK's largest datacentres and for what, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said it did "not hold the requested information".

That reply, obtained by the environmental charity Global Action Plan through a freedom of information request and reported by the Guardian, lands as hundreds of new sites await planning permission and 315 more queue to connect to the National Grid. The paper says two of the planned sites will have higher carbon emissions than ExxonMobil in the UK. Two experts in our Who's Who directory shared the Guardian's piece.

The government designated datacentres as critical national infrastructure in 2024 and set up a route for qualifying projects to bypass local planning committees through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects scheme. Water UK warned in July that the country lacks the water for the planned expansion.

"It's highly likely that we're going to end up seeing datacentres given favourable treatment," Oliver Hayes of Global Action Plan told the Guardian. Anisah Khan, the charity's campaigns manager, was blunter: "When individuals across the country are facing hosepipe bans and essential housebuilding is being delayed because datacentres are gobbling up grid connections, what we need is not more chatbots at any cost."

Zack Polanski, Green Party leader in England and Wales, said the government "plans to steamroller over local opposition so private companies can build these facilities". Friends of the Earth is calling for a ban on new sites until developers commit to 100% additional renewable energy.