The rapid expansion of renewable power is being swallowed up by rising demand from data centres and air conditioning, rather than displacing fossil fuels, according to new research by the University of Sussex.
Data centres and growing use of air conditioning are among a range of factors threatening to undermine the climate gains from renewables, according to the paper, which was published in the academic journal Nature Reviews Clean Technology.
Researchers from Sussex and Vienna’s Central European University found that record growth in solar power in the first three quarters of 2025 outpaced global growth in electricity demand for the first time.
Increases in electricity use could consume most new renewable supply unless measures are taken to limit demand, they say.
‘Renewables are scaling at record speed, but demand growth from data centres, cooling and transport is running just as fast,’ said Professor Felix Creutzig, Bennett Institute chair at the University of Sussex.
Publication of the research comes as Toby Perkins MP, chair of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, expressed concern about the omission of data centres’ emissions from recently published proposals by the Climate Change Committee for a Seventh Carbon Budget.
