Google's huge new Essex datacentre to emit 570,000 tonnes of CO2 a year

Google declined to comment on its planning application for the Thurrock site. Google declined to comment on its planning application for the Thurrock site. Planning documents show impact of Thurrock'hyperscale' unit as UK attempts to ramp up AI capacity A new Google datacentre in Essex is expected to emit more than half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to about 500 short-haul flights a week, planning documents show. Spread across 52 hectares (128 acres), the Thurrock "hyperscale datacentre" will be part of a wave of mammoth computer and AI power houses if it secures planning consent. The plans were submitted by a subsidiary of Google's parent company, Alphabet, and the carbon impact emerged before a concerted push by Donald Trump's White House and Downing Street to ramp up AI capacity in Britain. Multibillion-dollar investment deals with some of Silicon Valley's biggest technology companies are expected to be announced during the US president's state visit to the UK, which starts on Tuesday.