Welcome to the thirteenth edition of the Jisc Digital Sustainability Newsletter. Each month, we explore the latest news, trends, articles, and insights at the intersection of technology and environmental sustainability.
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Digital sustainability news
With so much happening in the world of digital sustainability, here are the highlights from the last month:
Lack of data from datacentres fuels water uncertainty as England faces major supply gaps
England’s water regulator, the Environment Agency, has warned it cannot accurately predict future water shortages due to a lack of data from datacentres, which are not required to report their water usage. With England potentially facing a 6-billion-litre-per-day shortfall by 2055, the rapid growth of AI – and the vast quantities of water needed to cool datacentre servers – is complicating national water planning.
UK pays millions to switch off wind turbines amid grid crisis
In a report by the BBC’s Justin Rowlatt, it’s revealed that renewable energy firms are routinely compensated for not producing electricity, as Britain’s ageing grid struggles to handle surging green power. With ballooning costs and political pressure mounting, the government is now weighing a controversial plan to regionalise electricity pricing – a move that could radically shift who pays what across the country.
Europe’s Largest Data Centre Sparks Green Belt Backlash in Hertfordshire
A major new data centre project near Potters Bar has triggered protests over the loss of 85 acres of London’s green belt. Local residents and campaigners say the facility, billed as Europe’s largest, will destroy valuable countryside, harm biodiversity, and place strain on local resources. Critics argue the public was not adequately consulted, while environmental concerns – such as energy and water use – remain unanswered.
Global leaders back responsible AI charter to boost sustainable development
At the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, a coalition of governments, NGOs, and UN agencies signed the Hamburg Declaration — the first global agreement specifically focused on using artificial intelligence to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The move signals a growing effort to harness AI responsibly, with special emphasis on empowering developing nations and tackling inequality, climate change, and digital inclusion.
Carbon capture leader Climeworks cuts jobs as US support wavers
Climeworks, a pioneer in direct-air carbon capture, is slashing its workforce amid uncertain federal support under the Trump administration. The layoffs signal broader strain across the carbon removal industry, which faces dwindling investment and fragile market demand.
Web browser Ecosia lets users track their daily climate impact with new interactive features
Green search engine Ecosia has unveiled a new real-time dashboard showing users the tangible impact of their daily activity – from trees planted to solar energy supported. CEO Christian Kroll says it’s about empowering people to take climate action into their own hands, in a world where political ambition is faltering.
AI set to consume nearly half of data centre power by year’s end
Artificial intelligence could account for almost 50% of global data centre electricity use by late 2025, raising serious sustainability concerns. New estimates suggest AI’s rising demand may soon rival the energy needs of entire nations, prompting calls for more transparency and restraint.
AI could offset its own energy use by driving efficiency, says new report
A PwC-led study with Microsoft and Oxford University finds that AI could become energy-neutral – or even positive – if its climate benefits are factored in. While data centres and models like ChatGPT are energy-hungry, AI could reduce emissions elsewhere by improving efficiency, offering a path to sustainable tech adoption.
Apple launches new tool to help apps use cleaner electricity
Apple has unveiled EnergyKit, a new tool that enables EV and smart thermostat apps to time energy use with cleaner periods on the grid. Using data behind iPhone’s Clean Energy Charging, it lets users cut carbon and costs — all while keeping their energy data private.
First electric aircraft lands at JFK Airport in passenger milestone
Beta Technologies completed a landmark flight with its electric ALIA aircraft, flying nearly 100 miles from East Hampton to JFK with four passengers aboard. The 45-minute trip cost just $8 in electricity – a quiet but powerful signal that zero-emission flight is becoming a possibility.
Microsoft annual report sees small emissions dip but still far from 2030 climate goal
Microsoft’s latest sustainability report shows a slight drop in emissions for 2024, but overall climate impact remains 23% above 2020 levels. As AI and cloud services drive up energy use, the company is leaning on clean power deals and carbon removal investments to get back on track.
AI helps rediscover Samoa’s ‘little dodo’ in conservation breakthrough
A machine learning algorithm developed by Colossal Foundation has detected the calls of the critically endangered tooth-billed pigeon, helping conservationists locate the elusive species in Samoa for the first time in over a decade. The project marks a promising fusion of artificial intelligence and wildlife protection.
Member Highlights
In our monthly member highlights, we turn the green spotlight onto one of Jisc’s members in FE and HE who are implementing noteworthy digital sustainability initiatives.
This month, we’re proud to showcase the University of Stirling for its strategic and comprehensive approach to digital sustainability. From infrastructure optimisation to student engagement, the university is embedding environmental responsibility across the digital lifecycle.
A cornerstone of their efforts includes a Digital First strategy, promoting electronic course materials, digital feedback, and paperless workflows. Smart printing policies – such as secure pull printing, default duplex and grayscale settings, and quotas – have helped the University of Stirling reduce its print volumes by an impressive 79% over the past five years, saving an estimated 25 trees, 9,019 kg of CO₂, and over £25,000 in paper and energy costs.
The main website runs on renewable energy and implements sustainable practices such as minifying code, managing third-party code and using Content Distribution Network for images. This leads to faster loading times – especially important for users with data poverty, less bandwidth usage and significantly reduced carbon emissions.
On the infrastructure side, Stirling is migrating legacy systems to energy-efficient cloud services and has committed to reducing the number of devices on campus – Phase 1 will see a drop from 93 to 63 devices by July 2025. Power-saving settings are now standard across all managed devices, and sustainable procurement practices ensure that vendors like HP meet high standards for repairability and climate action.
Sustainability doesn’t stop at procurement or policy. A university-wide device lending scheme extends hardware lifecycles and supports digital inclusion. Engagement campaigns and digital skills training now include eco-conscious digital habits, empowering staff and students to take ownership of their digital footprint.
With initiatives ranging from toner recycling and recycled paper use to auto-scaling cloud environments and reducing virtual server waste, the University of Stirling exemplifies how digital transformation and climate responsibility can go hand-in-hand.
To learn more about Stirling’s digital sustainability journey, visit: Digital Sustainability | University of Stirling
Resource corner
Each month, we share a selection of digital sustainability reports, tools, or resources that we hope you might find useful.
The Green Changemaker Virtual Hub
This month’s lead resource is the fantastic Green Changemaker Virtual Hub. The hub is a beautifully curated virtual space designed to help people in Further Education connect, learn, and lead on climate action in the metaverse.
Created through the Green Changemakers programme, hosted by Fircroft College and led by the expertise of Dr. Lou Mycroft, the Green Changemaker Hub is part resource library, part social space – with articles, podcasts, films, and policy tools designed to support green skills and systems change. Think of it as your favourite local bookshop or gallery, but online and filled with climate inspiration.
- Monthly updates
- FE-focused sustainability tools
- Community connection
You can explore the hub for free here.
Additional Resources:
This month, we would also like to highlight two contrasting yet complementary pieces on AI and the environment. Andy Masley’s “Why using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment – a cheat sheet” argues that personal chatbot use is a climate distraction, making the case that 3 Wh per prompt is negligible compared to other emissions sources. It’s a persuasive read that urges climate advocates to focus on systems change over individual guilt. On the other side, James O’Donnell and Casey Crownhart’s MIT Tech Review feature “We did the math on AI’s energy footprint” zooms out to the industry level, revealing how AI’s growing infrastructure could reshape the global energy landscape with incredibly negative environmental repercussions. Masley dismantles what he sees as overblown personal climate anxieties, whereas O’Donnell and Crownhart warn of a future where AI’s energy appetite is anything but negligible. Together, these pieces offer a nuanced view of AI’s current and potential environmental footprint.
Digital sustainability articles
Here is a selection of our favourite articles on digital sustainability from the last month. Click on the title link to be redirected to the full article:
Access to more granular grid data is crucial for data centre providers and their customers
In a detailed opinion piece for FORESIGHT Climate & Energy, Julien Lavalley of Electricity Maps argues that IT infrastructure providers urgently need more granular electricity data to operate efficiently and sustainably. With data centres already consuming 1.5% of global electricity, Lavalley outlines how real-time, location-specific carbon intensity and pricing data can help companies shift loads, cut emissions, and avoid greenwashing — while staying ahead of upcoming Scope 3 regulation.
Buying green IT, part 1: why procurement must drive sustainable technology choices
In this insightful LinkedIn article, Janne Kalliola argues that procurement teams have a vital role to play in greening the IT sector. With data centres, networks and emerging technologies like AI driving IT’s share of global energy use, Kalliola outlines how buyers can shift the market by demanding transparency, life-cycle assessments and energy-efficient solutions. His advice? Make sustainability a real scoring factor in IT procurement — not just a tick box.
What is the green cloud and how do you get there?
In Silicon Republic, Nahla Davies investigates the true environmental toll of cloud computing – far from ethereal, it relies on vast, energy-intensive data centres. With demand for digital services and AI workloads booming, she explores the concept of the “green cloud” as a path forward: minimising emissions and water use through renewables, smarter cooling, efficient hardware, and responsible procurement. But as Davies notes, without robust regulation and third-party accountability, green claims risk falling into greenwash territory.
Why measuring power’s climate impacts has become a battleground
Ketan Joshi explores the growing debate over “marginal emissions” — a method that estimates the carbon impact of electricity use based on what could have been generated to meet new demand, rather than what was actually used. Joshi argues this shift away from real-world, location-based measurements risks serious underreporting of emissions, especially as data centre energy use soars. He warns that embedding this approach in official standards would blur accountability and recreate the credibility issues of carbon offsetting.
AI doesn’t need more energy – it needs less corporate control
In a sharp response to OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Sasha Luccioni challenges the belief that bigger AI models inevitably demand bigger energy budgets. Writing for Tech Policy Press, she argues that alternative, lower-impact approaches exist – and that breaking Big Tech’s grip on the field is essential to building a fairer, greener future for artificial intelligence.
The green IT value case – concrete steps towards sustainable IT
A new paper from TNO and Accenture highlights how organisations can reduce IT-related emissions while boosting competitiveness. Drawing on insights from 20 leading companies, it outlines the business case, common challenges, and actionable steps to embed sustainability into digital infrastructure.
Saying thank you to a chatbot carries a surprising energy cost
Even a quick “thank you” to an AI model isn’t free, according to new analysis by Julien Delavande, Sasha Luccioni and Régis Pierrard. Their research shows that replying to such messages consumes enough energy to power a lightbulb for several minutes — and when repeated millions of times, these small gestures add up to a large and growing environmental toll.
Four reasons to feel hopeful about AI’s energy future
Despite growing concerns over AI’s environmental footprint, MIT Technology Review highlights four key areas where innovation is driving down energy use. From smarter models and new chip designs to more efficient data centre cooling and built-in financial incentives for sustainability, the sector may be heading for a greener trajectory than headlines suggest.
Why sustainability and observability in devops can’t be left to chance of self-organising teams
Writing for Medium, Wilco Burggraaf argues that hoping sustainability and observability will naturally emerge from autonomous DevOps teams is wishful thinking. Without structured support, clear tooling and enforcement, well-intentioned teams can drift into inefficiency — and the sustainability agenda gets quietly sidelined.
How businesses can make their IT operations more sustainable in 2025
Despite strong strategic interest, most organisations are lagging in using IT to deliver on sustainability. Keri Allan in ITPro explores how understanding emissions scopes, adopting circular practices, and getting ahead of regulation can help teams make meaningful progress.
Efficiency can work – and we shouldn’t let pessimistic thinking become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Technologist Anne Currie argues in this well thought out and balanced article that the AI industry’s energy waste is a design choice, not a fate, and calls on users and builders alike to demand better systems now.
WEF: sustainability data is as important as financial data
Chloe Williment, writing for Sustainability Magazine, reports that the World Economic Forum is calling on businesses to treat sustainability data with the same rigour and importance as financial data, positioning it as essential for agility, trust, and long-term value.
Can browser choice support digital sustainability?
Andy Davies blog post for Wholegrain Digital explores the environmental footprint of web browsing and how dominant platforms like Chrome contribute to high data collection and associated emissions. He argues that switching to privacy-first browsers such as Firefox can reduce both user-level and infrastructure-level energy demands. For those wanting to cut their digital carbon footprint, browser choice is a simple but impactful step.
Does the internet have an environmental impact? Yes, actually, and it’s getting bigger
Cierra Noffke, writing for CNET, reports that the environmental impact of the internet is rapidly increasing due to the rise of AI, 5G, and satellite broadband. Fiber is the most sustainable connection type, while technologies like 5G and AI consume far more energy. As usage grows, experts call for regulation, transparency, and more efficient infrastructure to curb emissions and resource strain.
Sustainability WordPress websites: 7 eco-friendly standards
Mike Hindle outlines seven key strategies for creating low-carbon WordPress websites. He emphasises the need for a holistic, performance-focused approach to reduce the environmental impact of web infrastructure, incorporating practices such as optimising images and fonts for minimal loads, implementing caching and minification to reduce data transfer, and using lightweight block themes.
Podcast pick
Each edition, we highlight a podcast episode that brings fresh insight into digital sustainability and climate tech.
This month’s pick is an incredibly thought-provoking episode of the Teach, Tech Connect podcast – Sustainability and EdTech, where hosts Isla Flood and Emily Cossey are joined by Dr. Megan Wakefield and Jenny Willis to explore the intersection of technology, pedagogy, and sustainability. The conversation is both accessible and energising. It’s a great listen for anyone in education wrestling with how to use tech more intentionally and sustainably.
Get Involved:
We want to hear from you! Share your comments, suggestions, and digital sustainability highlights. Contact our Subject Specialist for Digital Sustainability, Cal Innes, at cal.innes@jisc.ac.uk.
And don’t forget to subscribe to our DIGITAL-SUSTAINABILITY JiscMail mailing list for future editions of the Digital Sustainability Newsletter.
