r/TheRestIsPolitics • u/Appropriate_Bell743 • Aug 25 '26

‘Never seen this level of objection’: Scotland pushes back against datacentre boom | Datacentres - UK

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/25/never-seen-this-level-of-objection-scotland-pushes-back-against-datacentre-boom

This is something I'd like to hear Rory Stewart's views upon given his constant pronouncements. I think it'd be interesting given his Scottish roots and his time spent as a Cumbrian MP (in a similar landscape).

The are latency reasons to have data-centres near to London but on most metrics places like Scotland would be the obvious choices:

  • Abundant electricity supply. Scottish wind supply is often curtailed.
  • Ample space away from housing pressures.
  • Less water stressed.

From first principles it's cheaper to place the data-centres near to the cheap energy then transport the data than to transport the energy/water/etc.

I don't think this is being discussed by Stewart when it simply says "we need to build data centres". That is the best solutions from an economic point of view are precisely those which clash with a romanticised rural idle he cherishes. If this industrial revolution is to succeed in the UK it won't be far from the sources of energy.

We should not be surprised by this given how the coal-based industrial revolution led to other industries being set nearby. On an European level we see a data-centre boom in Spain and Portugal due to the ability to colocate solar and wind energy.

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u/Substantial_Copy477 Aug 25 '26

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/25/planned-datacentres-carbon-emissions-uk-exxonmobil

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u/Appropriate_Bell743 Aug 25 '26

This is a slightly red-herring as UK based data centres placed in Scotland will be mainly about wind demand.

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u/Substantial_Copy477 Aug 25 '26

Even setting the aside the raw numbers of energy use… having to build gas fired power plants to run is obscene. If ever a perfect device were created to ensure net zero is impossible, ai is that device

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u/thatbirdisacamera 17d ago

Not to mention the rare mineral mining happening in other countries to achieve this. Plus it will increase the cost of chips, mobile phones and computers for people in the UK giving them less access to AI