Action to Protect Rural Scotland

Our Director Kat Jones has written an analysis of the Edinburgh hyperscale data centre decision for Bella Caledonia. She explains how the result will have ripples far beyond the city as other data centes make it through the planning system.

bellacaledonia.org.u...

We are sharing this from our friends at Loch Wood @BlackwoodEstateCommunityAssociation who are opposing a BESS that would affect ancient woodland and their Forest School. You can watch a video about them from STV in the link!
www.change.org/p/sav...

Data Centres Campaign - Action to Protect Rural Scotland Where are the data centres planned? We have looked through the planning portals of the local authorities and at articles

Contrary to NPF policy 2 - as it doesnt address lifecycle Green House gas emissions
Contrary to the City Plan Place- Place 19 policy because it doesnot support themixed use vision for Edinburgh Park area.

Well done to the campaigners!
aprs.scot/data-centr...

statement to follow

BREAKING NEWS!
Edinburgh City Council Committee REJECT the application for a 210MW Data Centre at Edinburgh Gyle
This was refused on the ground of:
Contrary to NPF4 policy 1 - as it does not address the climate crisis
1/2

BREAKING NEWS!
Edinburgh City Council Committee REJECT the application for a 210MW Data Centre at Edinburgh Gyle
This was refused on the ground of:
Contrary to NPF4 policy 1 - as it does not address the climate crisis
1/2

LinkedIn This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

or you can also read on our website if you don't have access to The National
lnkd.in/egK6b47W

I hope this has persuaded you to click on the link and read the article anyway - it's very very important stuff!

LinkedIn This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

When I was writing this Op Ed I had the title 'Why AI could kill us all, but just not in the way that you think' in my head, but I think The National have gone one better. A reference to '...this One Neat Trick' clickbait perhaps?

Polling finds ‘near universal support’ for protecting green belt land Some 85% of those surveyed in Scotland consider such protections important.

There is near universal support for Green Belts ad countryside protection, as we found in a survey commissioned to mark the centenary of CPRE and APRS. Read more in this article!

A hyperscale data centre proposed for Edinburgh is planning to use diesel generators for back-up power which, when in use, would be the equivalent to over a hundred thousand idling diesel cars. We've worked out this would be a tower of cars 28 tall over the entire site.

aprs.scot/diesel-gen...

data centres, energy and webinars  - the latest from APRS update on the data centres campaign, energy news and webinars

We've just sent out our supporter and member bulletins - have a read here about all the things we've been up to - and subscribe to read more of this kind of stuff.

Data Centre Lobbyists "we probably should spend tens of millions of dollars on messaging"

Us "we've got three part time members of staff and a few volunteers and we're READY!"

Join our campaign! aprs.scot/data-centr...

see story in the FT: www.ft.com/content/f...

It's Three Kings Day today and traditionally the day that people take down the Christmas decorations.

So today we take down the Santa Hat from our logo until next year, and get geared up for a busy busy year of campaigning for Scotland's countryside

Happy New Year everyone!

One point twenty one Gigawatts??!?? - Action to Protect Rural Scotland How many times could you go  'Back to the Future' on the energy that would be consumed by new data centres planned in Scotland?   Quite a few it turns out.

... would power the DeLorean to go Back to the Future four times. And there are two more data centres that are not yet in formal planning processes that will add another time hop at least.

Read about where the data centres are planned here-

Famously the DeLorean needed 1.21 Gigawatts (GW) of energy to take Marty back to 1985, in the film ‘Back to the Future’ (a bit more than the power of Torness nuclear power station)

We found the energy demand of the data centres in the planning system at the moment ...

Q: How many times could you go  'Back to the Future' on the energy that would be consumed by new data centres being planned in Scotland?  

A: Here's a clue - it's much more than our peak winter energy demand in Scotland.

aprs.scot/news/1-21g...

more in thread...

Data Centres in the Scottish Planning system would double Scotland’s energy demands - Action to Protect Rural Scotland Today APRS and ERCS wrote to the Planning Minister Ivan McKee to express concern about the energy demands of data centres coming through Scotland's planning system. They called for a pause on all planning applications until a more strategic approach can be made and strict environmental standards are defined for data centres.

we have written to the Scottish Government to cal for a pause on all planning permissions until the impacts on our energy system, energy prices, climate targets and communities can be assessed.

Data Centres in the Scottish Planning system would double Scotland’s energy demands - Action to Protect Rural Scotland Today APRS and ERCS wrote to the Planning Minister Ivan McKee to express concern about the energy demands of data centres coming through Scotland's planning system. They called for a pause on all planning applications until a more strategic approach can be made and strict environmental standards are defined for data centres.

Did you know energy demand from data centres in Scotland's planning system would double Scotland's energy use?

You can see the data centres we found in our investigations of the planning portals on our website.

Today NESO announced a moratorium on battery storage in their announcement of the reform of grid connections. This comes four days after we published our battery storage report showing the over capacity in the system and calling for a moratorium.

aprs.scot/news/neso-...

Battery Storage Report launched - Action to Protect Rural Scotland A report published today reveals that the Scottish Government has never refused planning permission for any large battery storage facility. As a result of this, Scotland now has nearly three times as much consented battery storage capacity, as is needed by 2030, and more than twice as much as is needed by 2050.

Read our Battery storage Report here:

NESO announcement backs up APRS research on battery over-provision - Action to Protect Rural Scotland Today NESO, the National Energy System Operator, announced their plans for prioritising the queue for energy projects waiting for a grid connection. At present it is first-come-first-served and the wait for connection can be 10-15 years for projects.

Currently, developers can apply for planning permission for energy projects anywhere, with decision making not depending on how close to grid connections they are. And then the grid is supposed to come to them, no matter how remote they are from the grid or from demand.

With so much energy in the planning system, and the grid queue so congested, we have the time to get this right - we need a spatial plan for energy to ensure the right installations are going in the right place and are able to be connected.

Our view is that this prioritisation system for grid connections is a step forward, but that our Planning System needs to catch up and ensure that National Planning Framework principles are followed and that we have a strategic spatial plan for consenting energy projects.

Battery Storage Report launched - Action to Protect Rural Scotland A report published today reveals that the Scottish Government has never refused planning permission for any large battery storage facility. As a result of this, Scotland now has nearly three times as much consented battery storage capacity, as is needed by 2030, and more than twice as much as is needed by 2050.

Battery has 34.5GW lined up for connection by 2030 and 153GW is not prioritised.

The massive over-provision of battery storage in the planning system was one of the key conclusions of our battery storage report which we launched last week.

Today's announcement from NESO on grid prioritisation backs up our research launched last week on the over provision of battery storage in the planning system.

The data they shared with the announcement show just how much battery storage is clogging up the system (see table below).

thread ... 🧵

Battery Storage and Planning Webinar Registration - Action to Protect Rural Scotland Please use this form to register for the Battery Storage and Planning Webinar on Wednesday 3rd December from 7.00pm –

If you prefer the long-form, intellectual approach , we're also doing a webinar this evening.

Is there Battery Storage Planned near you? - Action to Protect Rural Scotland Our report published 3 December shows that there is already nearly three times as much Battery Storage with planning permission

Here's our attempt at clickbait to draw attention to our new report on Battery Storage and the Planning System ....

📢 Checkout this interactive map to find out if battery storage is planned near you. 🧐

Is there Battery Storage Planned near you? - Action to Protect Rural Scotland Our report published 3 December shows that there is already nearly three times as much Battery Storage with planning permission

We're just building up to the Wednesday launch of our big report on Battery Storage revealing how overcapacity the system is.

Have a look at a preview of our map to see where battery projects are going in near you.
aprs.scot/resources/...

Sign up for our webinar launch!
aprs.scot/battery-st...

Scotland to cut grid costs for AI data centres by GBP £24 per MWh Scotland plans to slash electricity costs for AI data centres by GBP £24 per MWh, boosting competitiveness and green energy use without raising consumer bills.

So the UK Government can reduce electricity bills for data centres coming to Scotland, but it can't find a way to reduce bills for ordinary people?

What is going on?

itbrief.co.uk/story/...

join our Data Centre Campaign here: aprs.scot/data-centres/

‘Scotland’s Climate March: a better world is possible. Saturday 15th November. Assemble at Glasgow Green, 11am.’ There is an illustration of an abstract person with arms stretched to the sides and wavy legs, standing on top of a globe.

📢 On Sat 15th Nov join Scotland’s Climate March in Glasgow to demand a better world for all on the COP30 Global Day of Action.

Assemble at 11am, Glasgow Green.

Global Solidarity. A Fair Transition. Caring For Our Planet.

Join the action: climatemarch.scot

#ScotlandsClimateMarch

​Our Winter Webinars with @plandemoc.bsky.social are back! Starting in November and running monthly, ending with an in-person event in April 2026.

Our first webinar on 10 Nov will look at the historic environment and how that interacts with the planning system.

Sign up: aprs.scot/event/join...