Dr David R Brake

AI data centre to match carbon footprint of BA flights Planning documents for a £10 billion project in Lincolnshire reveal its annual emissions will reach one million tonnes of carbon dioxide new Adam Vaughan, Environment Editor Monday March 09 2026, 6.40pm GMT, The Times Illustration of a British Airways airplane flying above server racks, against a teal background with a large yellow circle. The Elsham Tech Park’s emissions would be similar to a year of British Airways short-haul flights within the UK and to European destinations A single AI data centre would generate annual carbon emissions on a par with a year of British Airways short-haul flights, figures show. Planning documents show that Elsham Tech Park project on a former RAF base near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, would emit about a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. That would put the scheme, billed as helping companies to “improve the way they use artificial intelligence”, on a level with BA flights within the UK and from Britain to Europe. It would also be similar to a major cement works in Derbyshire and a gas-fired power station in Bedfordshire. The UK emits about 364 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. The figures were published by North Lincolnshire council. A surge in plans for data centres has led MPs to call for a national conversation about their environmental impact. The Times revealed that about 140 data centres have asked regulators for a connection to the national electricity grid. If all were built, they would require more electricity capacity (50 gigawatts) than Britain’s peak demand on a February day (45GW). The new 1GW data centre in Lincolnshire, where developers hope construction will start next year, would reach peak annual emissions of 1,004,478 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2033. The emissions are those from the electricity needed to operate the facility. Illustration of the proposed data centre near the Elsham Wolds Industrial Estate. The project is on a former RAF …

Another fossil-fuelled data centre emissions estimate (via @adamvaughan.bsky.social) -> UK project will see 1 MTCO2-e, about the same as all British Airways flights in the country

www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Billionaires’ % share of federal election spending in:

2008: 0.3%

2024: 19%

@nytimes.com #GildedAge
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/u...

I had to scratch my head right from the start when they said they told the AI to “craft its own version using its own voice“. It does not have its own anything. ask it twice or in a slightly different way and the answers could be quite different.

Most accurate portrait of modern culture currently available

Reform UK’s attack on heat pumps and net zero is reckless, economically illiterate, and dangerous for Britain’s future.

Iran has so far engaged in an ethical war, observing principles of proportionality.

The US & Israeli bombing of a water desalination plant in Iran is a war crime.

It is a violation of the Geneva convention because they are essential for civilian survival. It is also devastating for the region.

Zack walking through the centre of an aisle in Peckham

Camden Green Party altogether in a park

Barnet big crowd in a circle

Haringey greens holding up vote green signs

So energised by our Saturday tour.

Four boroughs in one day - Southwark, Camden, Barnet and Haringey.

In every space: hundreds and hundreds of volunteers joining our Green Party, ready to make hope normal again.

Join us: join.greenparty.org.uk 💚🙌🏽

Starmer's attempt to play both sides has failed. He tried to look tough on Trump, but failed to condemn the illegal attack.

Then he let US bombers pit stop here.

He's dragged us into the war, and still managed to damage our reputation with the USA in the process.

Geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East once again shows that reliance on volatile oil and gas exposes economies to price shocks.

Renewables, electrification and storage offer more stable long term energy costs and stronger energy security.

Mamdani Deputy Mayor On Charging For Street Parking: 'It's Not a No' - Streetsblog New York City Dean Fuleihan said on Thursday that the city is discussing charging fees for currently free on-street parking.

NEW: Mamdani's City Hall is discussing charging fees for currently free on-street parking — a policy change that would not only create a new revenue stream but also seize a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve the streetscape. buff.ly/9C0Iq34

this is a masterclass response to Mahmood's latest hate mongering from Zack.

He marketed himself and the party as the "competency party" but clearly failed on that promise too (hard to be competent if you keep changing your objectives!)

I am a patriot. I don't remember @zackpolanski.bsky.social saying patriotism is a dirty word. I am proud of a Britain that professes to believe in human rights and dignity for all. It is the attacks on that tradition by Farage and @shabanamahmood.bsky.social that undermine my pride in being 🇬🇧

"The data centre has completely revitalized my community. It has become the third space we so desperately needed, with children playing jump rope and running down the aisles, the elderly enjoying each others company, and people leave floral wreaths inside every day. We crawl around in the total darkness on our hands and knees and our vagus nerves are stimulated by the humming of the machines. Some people have even started to disappear, growing into the walls, and once they are in that state we pay them no mind; they cease to be individuals." - Salesforce Child

www.instagram.com/p/DVbha-_Epsy/

a pile of these

The worst and most terrifying "every accusation is a confession" yet.

Perversely wish that Wikipedia page had been created from whole cloth just now...

Every time I meet someone and they learn that I am in transportation, they say “you need to fix congestion on so and so road”.

Every time my response is the same: “I have the solution, you just won’t like it.”

Crickets following the exchange (also every time).

This is my new favourite meme

Wicked! Could also caption it "a tool... holding a wrench".

Post See new posts Conversation beekirby (on the other place now) @Bee_Kirby · Mar 10, 2021 "Oh you complain about how much energy bitcoin consumes, do you know how much energy YOU use???" Yeah dipshit the difference is I use energy for shit like hygiene and food preparation and communicating with people and many other things your shitty puzzle machine can't do beekirby (on the other place now) @Bee_Kirby bitcoin people are spreading around their own bullshit videos about how the people against it are "hypocrites" as if their puzzle-solving machines that generate fake money are as important as food, light, heating, and transportation all put together

Thank you @beekirby.bsky.social for this gift in 2021

An expat in Dubai has a startling revelation: the Stephen Collins cartoon Reality check …

*snort*
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Zack Polanski gets under the skin of exactly the right people The Green leader has yet to advance workable, deeply thought through solutions to Britain’s biggest problems—but nor has Reform

Zack Polanski supporters are not deranged or stupid, they are relieved at a leader who is finally upbeat and hopeful, writes Alan Rusbridger

Labours attitudes towards water companies is one of the starkest examples of how they'll do anything to protect the status quo.

The case for water nationalisation is so bloody obvious to everyone - yet they'll do anything they can to keep the failed privatisation experiment.

Ask the public what services they want to cut, or what services they're happy to be rubbish, and you get a very different set of answers.

They'll say cut foreign aid, ofc, but that's all but gone already. What next?

This is the sleeper train route I’ve been waiting for. I can leave home in the morning, get to Brussels by mid afternoon, zip through Europe, go to sleep, and wake up in Milan. The Brussels to Milan part for as little as €49 each way! And with minimal carbon guilt…

This is amazing 👏🏽 🤩 @zackpolanski.bsky.social

The Secretive Company Filling Video Game Sites With Gambling And AI After being sold to Clickout Media, sites like GamesHub, The Escapist, Videogamer, and others have added gambling and casino stories and AI content

Or should I be thanking @jacksonryan1.bsky.social at @aftermath.site for exposing this issue? Or both? aftermath.site/gameshub-cli...

As the laid off Middle East News Editor, I concur. Management eliminated the positions of every single staff correspondent and bureau chief in the Middle East.

For everyone feeling depressed at the state of the world today.

There is hope. Never give up 💚☮️🇵🇸✊