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IET responds to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Call for Evidence: ‘Risks and opportunities to the sustainability of data centres in the UK’

Demand for data centres is increasing rapidly, driven by advances in artificial intelligence (AI), growing data volumes, and expanding digital services.

These trends are expected to continue, placing further pressure on infrastructure while also creating opportunities for the UK to lead in sustainable and efficient data centre development.

The IET recommends:

  • To help guide responsible development, government should impose a ‘bronze, silver, gold’ standard for data centres: bronze for excessive energy consumption which is harmful to the environment, silver for less harmful, and gold for environmentally sustainable operations.
  • Stronger alignment between AI policy, environmental regulation and infrastructure planning. This should include improved measurement and reporting of AI-related resource use, greater transparency from industry, and incentives to prioritise more efficient approaches.
  • Government must explicitly consider the ecological footprint of data centres and integrate specific criteria for biodiversity protection and environmental performance in planning approvals. 
  • Future policies such as the Land Use Framework, regional planning, housebuilding strategies, and water sector reform, should incorporate mandatory reporting for data centres on key environmental metrics. These should cover energy use and sources, water consumption and supply, carbon emissions, e-waste management, and Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).
  • It is vitally important to consider the capacity of the UK grid when planning the development of data centres. Therefore, government must encourage developers and planners to prioritise locations that offer access to renewable energy and are resilient to climate-related risks.
  • The sequencing of generation, network capacity and end-use deployment must be carefully managed to avoid system constraints and affordability issues that could delay decarbonisation progress.