Scotland’s Green Datacentre Policy Overlooks AI’s Carbon Footprint, Study Finds

The 2022 definition of green datacentres, established before the arrival of ChatGPT, may overlook significant carbon emissions associated with AI developments, warns Action to Protect Rural Scotland. A charity's recent analysis reveals that Scotland’s government-backed initiative to attract datacentre investments—key to economic growth—could inadvertently ignore a rising environmental cost. These "green datacentres" are central to Scotland's strategy to draw major AI ventures, aligned with wider UK ambitions.