As a data centre construction boom sweeps the UK, creating soaring electricity demands that threaten to decimate climate targets, opportunist politicians and commentators are using this new phenomenon to undermine the clean energy transition.
In recent months, Conservative shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho, Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice, as well as the party’s head of policy Zia Yusuf, have all claimed that we should be using fossil fuels to power the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the UK.
Posting on social media in January following a debate in the House of Commons, Coutinho claimed that, “The AI revolution needs cheap, reliable, 24/7 energy. The biggest blocker will be [Energy and Net Zero Secretary] Ed Miliband’s fanatical approach to UK emissions.”
The UK government has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 – a target passed into law by the Conservatives in 2019.
Reform has been insisting for some time that climate targets should be abandoned in favour of AI data centre expansion.
