NRDC estimates Drax’s proposed data centre could emit 8.6 million tonnes of CO₂ a year

A proposed AI data centre at Drax’s North Yorkshire power station could produce 8.6 million tonnes of CO₂ annually under continuous operation, according to a campaign-group analysis reported by The Guardian on October 6. Drax disputes the calculation, challenging both the treatment of emissions from burning wood and the assumed power mix.

The wood behind the estimate

The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental campaign group, used information from Drax’s 2025 annual report to estimate that the facility would require 4.9 million tonnes of wood each year if built. Its emissions calculation assumes the data centre runs at a constant rate for every hour of the year.

To put that projected total in perspective, The Guardian compared it with the 4.79 million tonnes of CO₂ emitted by all flights departing Gatwick airport in 2024. The data centre estimate is nearly twice that figure, but describes a possible future operating scenario—not pollution from a facility already running.

8.6 million tonnesProposed Drax data centre

NRDC’s estimate assumes constant operation throughout the year.

4.79 million tonnesFlights departing Gatwick

The Guardian used the airport’s 2024 flight-emissions total as its comparison.

Most power would come from Drax itself

Drax disclosed plans last year to convert part of its biomass power plant into a data centre in response to growing demand for AI capability. Its public documents describe options for a 1.2-gigawatt facility, with 100 megawatts supplied by the electricity grid and the remainder supplied by its own power station.

The station already burns millions of tonnes of imported wood to generate electricity. Biomass power has been promoted as clean, and potentially capable of producing negative emissions, on the basis that replacement forests absorb CO₂ as they grow. Scientists and environmental experts strongly contest that accounting approach, according to The Guardian.

A disputed calculation before planning begins

Drax’s response called NRDC a longstanding anti-biomass campaign group and said its assertions were inaccurate and not independently verified. The company alleged basic errors involving international greenhouse-gas accounting standards for biomass and bioenergy, as well as the potential data centre’s power mix. Its objection concerns the calculation’s foundations, not just its headline total.

NRDC senior advocate Matt Williams called for minimum standards for data centres and for the government to rule out burning trees to power them. Drax, meanwhile, argued that the potential development could support UK economic growth, industrial renewal in North Yorkshire and the government’s ambitions for domestic AI capability.

The proposal has not entered the formal planning process. Drax says the data centre could be fully operational from 2031 if it secures the necessary consents. That is a conditional company timetable, rather than an approved opening date.