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Kai Wilson, Bloomberg
China’s data centres will “quadruple their electricity consumption by the end of the decade”, according to the global research firm Wood Mackenzie, reports Bloomberg. China’s data centres will use 774 terawatt-hours of electricity by 2030, accounting for around 6% of China’s total projected consumption, before rising to 17% by 2060, adds the outlet. Industry news outlet BJX News reports that China’s new solar capacity additions from January to July fell 61.4% year-on-year to 86.2 gigawatts (GW), according to the National Energy Administration. In July alone, 14.1GW was added, up 27.5% from a year ago, adds the outlet. China has flown an airborne wind energy system to 4,000 metres to generate electricity from the sky, reports the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, citing state broadcaster CCTV.
MORE ON CHINA
China will hold local officials accountable for “inadequate efforts” in areas including the “green transformation” and advancing “dual carbon” goals, according to Xinhua. Reuters reports that floods triggered by heavy rain from Typhoon Narra intensified on Tuesday, forcing 15,000 people in southwestern China to evacuate. The MEE has approved the allowance allocation plan for China’s carbon market, reports BJX News. China has established a new committee to guide the standardisation of “green and low-carbon” development of industry, says Xinhua. Bloomberg reports that “dozens” of Chinese firms are implicated by new US sanctions on Iran, although the US “avoided…targeting major Chinese financial institutions”. The US is looking to “impose a 7.5% tariff on Chinese goods” over allegations of overcapacity, says Bloomberg. People’s Daily publishes a fourth article under the byline Zhong Caiwen, which calls for China to expand “green trade” and actively advance the “dual carbon” goals. The success of China's “new three” cleantech sectors shows that it should continue its industrial policy of utilising its “huge market” and “highly complete industrial system”, says Economic Daily.
Jessica Elgot and Kiran Stacey, The Guardian
A UK government campaign will inform people to “stock up on tinned food and take steps to ensure they are prepared for national emergencies”, reports the Guardian. Sources tell the newspaper: “The new campaign from the Cabinet Office will set out ways people can prepare for extreme weather events and potential attacks from hostile states, including stocking up on bottled water.” The outlet adds that planning for several “disasters”, including extreme heat and flooding, has “increased over the past few months after a number of incidents both in the UK and across the world”. The Financial Times first reported the story.
Elsewhere, the climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph says a consulting firm has “warned” that UK electricity bills will increase “because of mounting net-zero costs”. On its frontpage, the Times covers similar claims from a different report from right-wing thinktank Civitas under the headline: “Pursuit of net-zero has failed to cut British energy bills.” [See Carbon Brief’s 2025 factcheck on why expensive gas – not net-zero – is keeping UK electricity prices so high.] In addition, the Guardian reports that the UK faces its “highest price cap in three years as energy bills rise 4% from October”.
MORE ON UK
The Financial Times: “UK backs Devon tungsten mine in effort to secure critical mineral supplies.” The Financial Times: “Sizewell C nuclear project suffers setback after road building delayed.” The Independent: “UK green technology firm plans major £55m Africa expansion to help create ‘energy grid of the future’.” The Daily Express covers pushback from local residents to a “huge” solar farm in Norfolk.
John Seewer, The Associated Press
A wildfire has “charred more than 78 square miles (200 square kilometers) in less than a day” in Texas, reports the Associated Press. The fire was “fuelled by whipping winds along with extremely hot and dry conditions”, says the outlet. Officials also tell the news agency that “high temperatures and gusty winds allowed the blaze to shoot up faster than anyone could have imagined”. The Dallas Morning News says the blaze “forced school closures and the evacuation of around 630 homes”.
MORE ON US
The Guardian: “US fossil fuel lobbyists also represent hundreds of cities fighting for climate damages.” Inside Climate News covers a study which finds that “some of the largest fossil fuel companies on Earth are disproportionately responsible for the water crisis in the American west”. Another Inside Climate News article looks at “unbearable” heat in prisons in Alabama. The Guardian says “dangerous”, surging temperatures are expected in the south-western US at the end of this month.
Pippa Neill, The Guardian
The Guardian covers analysis from a non-profit group finding that the “carbon emissions from just two planned data centres in England will exceed all of the fossil fuel company ExxonMobil’s UK emissions”. The newspaper says the analysis, from Foxglove, shows that the two data centres would use 1.3GW of power and produce more than 4.5m tonnes of carbon emissions, when fully operational. It adds: “ExxonMobil emitted 3.9m tonnes in 2023, according to the global energy thinktank Ember.” The newspaper notes: “Experts have said this demonstrates the ‘serious threat’ data centres pose to the UK’s legally binding climate goals.”
MORE ON DATA CENTRES
A “big read” in the Financial Times looks at the “multiplying risks of financing datacentres”. The Associated Press: “In a divided America, the left and right unite to oppose artificial intelligence datacentres.” Reuters reports that Spain is drafting “stricter water, energy and cybersecurity rules for datacentres after a deluge of projects in the country”. The Guardian reports that the US is building “twice as much” gas-fired power generation as China amid a “frenzy” in data-centre construction, according to a report from the Global Energy Monitor.
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