Joint press release from APRS and ERCS
Environmental charities have written to Scotland’s First Minister renewing calls for an immediate moratorium on hyperscale AI data centres until key environmental conditions are met, as opposition gathers pace and campaigners race to prevent two major developments at Auchtertool and Larbert.
Responding to the First Minister’s announcement that he was ‘giving active consideration to whether the Scottish Government should provide planning guidance to balance the rapid expansion of hyperscale data centres with national energy and climate goals,’ Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) and the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) have renewed calls to urgently introduce a moratorium in advance of the October deadlines for local authorities to make a final decision on whether to grant planning permission for data centres at Auchtertool and Larbet. If approved, these sites would between them require 900MW of power, just under a quarter of Scotland’s peak power demand.
APRS and ERCS caution that neither development can be properly considered without a definition of a ‘green data centre’, associated guidance, and an Environmental Impact Assessment. Auchtertool, despite it’s huge power consumption (the developers project that it would use 4000TWh of energy, nearly 20% of the total used in Scotland in 2024), has not been required to do an EIA.
Hyperscale data centres are not routinely required to produce an Environmental Impact Assessment; of the 13 hyperscale data centres that have reached that stage in the planning process, only six have been required to provide an EIA. Last week, the Scottish Government Reporter working on the planning appeal for the Gyle Data Centre overruled the Edinburgh City Council decision not to require an EIA.
Using data from planning portals of Scotland’s local authorities, APRS previously calculated that if all applications for hyperscale data centres were approved it would more than double Scotland’s energy demand, with 17 hyperscale data centres at various stages of the planning process and many others at earlier stages.
This rush of applications is related to the exponential growth of AI and the processing power that it demands. Developers are labelling their hyperscale data centres ‘green’ because the National Planning Framework names ‘green data centres’ as a National Priority Development. The letter makes it clear that hyperscale AI data centres were never intended to be part of this, explaining that Scotland’s National Planning Framework, which was published only three months after the launch of ChatGPT, did not account for the impact of hyperscale AI data centres. Its greenhouse gas analysis of the impact of ‘green data centres’ calculated that they would have a negligible effect on climate targets, assuming only a marginal increase in data centre use from people using internet-connected devices more, and anticipating that this would be counterbalanced by greenhouse gas savings from less travelling.
APRS and ERCS are urging the Scottish Government to urgently pause new hyperscale AI data centres until there has been a clear assessment of their impact on Scotland’s energy security, energy prices and climate targets; the publication of new guidance for local authorities clarifying the definition of a ‘green data centre’; and a mandatory requirement to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment for all new applications.
The opposition to hyperscale AI data centres has been picked up across the political spectrum, with motions opposing their expansion tabled by both Reform UK and the Scottish Greens, and motions from the SNP’s National Council, East Ayrshire Council and Edinburgh City Council to introduce a moratorium on new hyperscale AI data centre applications across Scotland.
Dr Kat Jones, Director of APRS said:
“Since the first calls from ERCS and ourselves for a moratorium back in December, the impacts of hyperscale data centres on communities and the environment everywhere they are built are becoming clearer, and the lack of benefits they bring to local communities even starker. These humongous buildings, some of the largest on the planet, have huge environmental impacts, both locally and globally. Let us heed the warnings from communities and cities in the US who are putting in place moratoriums, and pause to think before we rush headlong into allowing them in Scotland.
‘We urge the Scottish Government to heed the calls of many MSPs, East Ayrshire Council, Edinburgh City Council, their own SNP national council, and communities across Scotland, and to put in place a moratorium immediately so that they have time to fully assess the risks posed to communities, climate and environment and provide adequate guidance for decision makers. They need to clarify that a ‘green data centre’, as referenced in our National Planning Framework, does not apply to hyperscale AI data centres. And they need to ensure that Environmental Impact Assessments are required for all hyperscale data centres.”
Benji Brown, ERCS Policy & Advocacy Officer said:
‘What is in the best interests of tech giants is not in the best interests of Scotland. It is increasingly clear that the rush to develop hyperscale data centres has been ill thought through, without due consideration of disastrous effects these developments will have on local communities and the environment. This new wave of data centres would place huge demands on our energy system and blow a hole in our climate targets, especially if back-up diesel generators are used to help power new sites.
Local authorities are already struggling to make sense of unclear guidance around the definition of a ‘green data centre,’ and it beggars belief that these vast projects could proceed without a full Environmental Impact Assessment. We need an immediate moratorium until there has been a clear evaluation of the effects that hyperscale data centres will have on Scotland’s energy security, energy prices and climate targets.’
ENDS
For enquiries Call APRS on 0131 225 7012 and dial 1 for media
NOTES TO EDITORS
[1] Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) is Scotland’s Countryside Charity. We campaign to protect, enhance and promote Scotland’s countryside and rural landscapes for everyone’s benefit. Our interest in data centres comes with the vast energy requirements and the impacts it will have on our climate targets as well as the additional energy infrastructure that it will need in our landscapes and countryside. www.aprs.scot
[2] The Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) is an environmental law charity. We carry out advocacy in policy and law reform to improve environmental rights, and full compliance with the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice on environmental matters. www.ercs.scot
