The Environmental Impact of AI Data Centres: Myths and Realities

London, United Kingdom Aug 25, 2026 ALN: As AI begins to nestle itself into our daily lives, there are not only huge fears about it taking away people’s jobs and fuelling the spread of misinformation but about the impact data centres are set to have on the environment.

Given there is a distinct lack of monitoring and available research around it, myths around the effect AI data centres will have on communities around them are running riot, from how much water they use to whether they will cause problems with cows giving birth.

So, what do we know about the environmental impact of data centres and what is yet to become clear?

Water Use

Many of us have come to assume that all AI data centres use loads of water, mainly based on more traditional cooling systems that have been used in the US that make use of water-intensive evaporative cooling towers that use a lot from local resources.

But new technology has come in and is being used by many data centres in the UK that means they’re not using any water at all. This happens through using closed-loop cooling systems, which circulate coolant through sealed systems that eliminate the need for constant water replenishment.

Professor Ana Basiri, director of the centre for data science and AI at Glasgow University, explained: “In a closed-loop system, there is a coolant going around and at the end there is water, it gets heated one or two degrees and goes back and it’s not that bad [for the environment]. When we look at this model of closed loop, it’s probably the most efficient.

“There is a good data centre in Scotland called DataVita in Lanarkshire and their efficiency is 97% more than one of equal size in London because they went through the closed loop model.”

But There's a Lack of Information...

While it is not always the case that AI data centres use a lot of water, Basiri said there is a lack of information about which data centres are following which procedure and whether they switch at peak times.

“The reason we don’t know really is because since 2024, the UK Government decided that data centres are critical infrastructure, so they are basically exactly like NHS hospitals, they’re that important,” she told The National.

“That means we don’t get much data out of them when they are planning to build one. They don’t go through the same sort of procedure for planning permission [in terms of] environmental impact and assessment.

“When you ask how bad or good they are – the answer is we actually don’t know.

“But what we did in the past was we looked at the water use before and after the data centre became really a big thing in the UK and we tried to factor in the population growth, and it’s not that massive if you compare with some other sectors.”

The Scottish Government has recently intervened to announce planned data centres will have to publish environmental impact assessments and planning authorities will have to notify Scottish ministers of any new applications, with campaigners welcoming the move as "common sense prevailing at last".

Noise Pollution

The concerns people have around water use and people buying into fake news around data centres increasing the rate of stillborn calves are at times distracting from genuine issues, and one of those is noise.

Noise pollution can have a serious impact on people’s mental and physical health over time, causing issues from nausea and headaches to sleep problems.

Basiri explained: “When you cool down a data centre there is a problem with noise.

“When I was talking to an MP a while ago she said in her constituency people have got some misinformation that cows are not going to give birth if there is a data centre around, so it’s like vaccine time. I must say, there is no link between data centres and any disease,” she said.

“However, when we talk about noise, because we have a threshold for noise tolerance – for anything not just data centres, you need to be below a certain decibel – and data centres on average are below that [it’s not raised as an issue], but you hear a hum noise all the time if you are very close to a data centre, so your sleep might be somehow disrupted.”

There are reports from the US, too, that the whirring noise from data centres has scared away wildlife from some areas.

Can AI Data Centres Rely on Renewables?

The other leading concern is around AI data centres’ energy use.

The National reported how a “green” AI data centre in Larbert could actually become one of Scotland’s top 10 polluters.

Diesel generators could hit the development’s neighbours with air pollution of up to 44 times the healthy limit during a power outage.

These would not run for “any purpose other than providing emergency back-up power” and during routine testing.

But as reliance on AI increases, there is major concern these centres simply will not be able to function without these diesel generators, even if they profess to be green.

Global Witness’s head of investigations Patrick Galey told the BBC in June: “Our concern about the energy demand for data centres is quite profound. What we’re seeing globally is that data centres are being constructed at such a rate the grid cannot automatically deal with the extra strain, so they are turning to additional gas-powered turbines to power their models.

“We cannot afford to keep adding pollution [to the atmosphere].”

The problem, Basiri says, is once again there is a lack of reliable data.

She said: “There is an element of size of data centres that we don’t talk about much because there is not really a formal definition if it is smaller or larger and so on.

“The other thing is we don’t have a good definition of green data centres. They are not fully described. We have some sort of idea of what it should be but not a clear criterion.

“The third issue is we don’t have all the data about when they peak and how they switch [systems].”

She added: “If we build it right, it’s going to be amazing because you create jobs and provide a lot of infrastructure to do AI more efficiently and that [creates] prosperity for the nation, but if you don’t do it right, it’s going to be catastrophic for the local community.”