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Concern UK's AI ambitions could lead to water shortages
Data centres can use vast quantities of water to cool them - but it's not clear where it will come from.
Sir Keir Starmer's plan to make the UK a "world leader" in Artificial Intelligence (AI) could put already stretched supplies of drinking water under strain, industry sources have told the BBC. Aaron Binckley, vice president of sustainability at Digital Realty, acknowledged criticism around data centres' water usage but claimed that the sector was making "significant strides". In 2024 the Environment Agency wrote in a blog that by 2050, England alone would need an extra five billion litres of water every day – it says this is the equivalent of two million wheelie bins-full – just to serve the population.
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