CAMPAIGNERS have demanded the government urgently confront contradictions in its AI policies after official research revealed it underestimated the climate impact of data centres by a hundredfold.

Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) data has found hyperscale centres used to power AI technology would emit far more greenhouse gases than previous assessments.

Government research found that cumulative emissions from AI computing over the next 10 years ranges from 34 to 123 MtCO₂, which represents between 0.9 and 3.4 per cent of Britain’s projected total emissions over the same period.

Environmental tech organisation Foxglove said previous estimates found climate impact would be about 100 times lower than these latest figures.

Foxglove head of strategy Tim Squirrel said: “The situation has now been revealed to be much, much worse, given the fact the government doesn’t seem to have done even the most basic arithmetic needed to measure the potential new carbon emissions of these data centres.”

Mr Squirrel highlighted contradictions in Britain’s commitments to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

He said: “This already sat awkwardly alongside its hell-for-leather embrace of a hyperscale AI data centre buildout, which unchecked could double the electricity consumption of the entire country.

“The government urgently needs to confront the reality that it can’t rubberstamp hundreds of new data centres, the smallest of which could fit Buckingham Palace inside its gates, whilst keeping its manifesto promise to the country – and legal obligation – to combat the climate crisis.”

Previous government figures on the impact of data centres were removed from official websites, Foxglove has claimed.

They said these latest figures reflect the organisation’s own research into the matter, done in collaboration with Carbon Brief.