Data centre and multi-cloud services provider DataVita analysed data by the national grid on ‘carbon intensity’, which is the measure of the CO2  emissions related to electricity generation in different parts of the country. 

South Scotland – including the central belt –had an average carbon intensity of 54.97 grams of carbon dioxide produced per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated  (gCO2e/kWh). Compared to London’s which was 202.07 gCO2e/kWh, 3.67 times higher than Scotland.

“These huge regional variations underline the importance of carefully considering where we place and how we use energy-intensive infrastructure,” said Danny Quinn from DataVita. “For example, a company can make a substantial difference to its carbon footprint – reducing it by as much as three-quarters, or 73% – by using a data centre in Scotland, rather than in London.”

Scotland has been first place across all of Great Britain in clean energy for the past three years, according to the report. Even over longer term measurements, Scotland’s gCO2e/kWh measurement was on average 3.82 times better than the capital. 

This is due largely in part to access to renewable energy versus reliance on fossil fuels, which are the largest indicators of a high ranking in this report.

Scotland’s renewable sector has been on a sharp incline to meet government targets. The total installed capacity of renewable energy of 13,877 megawatts (MW) was the highest year to year jump since 2009. 

The government of Scotland has made it a goal to reach 20 Gigawatts of additional low-cost renewable electricity capacity by 2030, which it says could generate the equivalent of about 50% of Scotland’s current total energy demand.

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Mark Butcher, digital sustainability and GreenOps advocate said:  “The focus on becoming carbon neutral means that all organisations need to be calculating the size and scale of their digital carbon footprint. When you unpick the data, there is a surprising difference between areas like Scotland and the rest of the UK. In some cases, you could reduce scope-2 emissions by over 80% just by considering a different data centre location.” 

Scotland’s top three forms of harnessing renewable energy are onshore wind farming, producing 8991MW in 2022, followed by offshore wind farming (2,166MW) and hydroelectric power (1,667MW).