By Aisha Down
Publication Date: 2026-04-26 07:00:00
A vision for the UK’s future is a decarbonised economy based on clean, renewable energy. Another is to make Britain an AI superpower.
The government agencies responsible for these two visions do not appear to have agreed on their numbers.
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) estimates that AI data centers will consume 6 GW of electricity by 2030. The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) apparently expects they will use less than a tenth of that.
Tim Squirrell, head of strategy at NGO Foxglove, said: “The government’s ignorance about the environmental impact of data centers would be laughable if it weren’t so alarming.”
Cecilia Rikap, a researcher at University College London, said: “There are two ways to interpret this ‘misalignment’: either DESNZ and DSIT are incompetent, or there is some kind of magical thinking about AI and Big Tech. Either way, the episode exposes how these companies don’t just control AI…
