General · 21 August 2026
Proposed London datacentre could emit 1.2m tonnes of carbon a year
Planning documents show a massive new London datacentre would create carbon emissions equal to 27,000 flights to New York annually. The East Havering Data Centre Campus would use 218 hectares of green belt land to power AI and cloud computing, consuming electricity similar to over 1 million homes. Its developer, Digital Reef, admits the £14.7 billion project won't meet net zero targets by 2050.
Reported by The Guardian · How we write briefs