Drax’s planned datacentre could produce nearly double the emissions of all flights out of Gatwick airport each year by burning 4.9m tonnes of wood annually, an analysis has shown.

Campaigners say this would make it “one of the dirtiest datacentres out there”.

Last year, the energy company Drax unveiled plans to convert part of its biomass power plant in North Yorkshire into a datacentre in response to the increase in demand for AI capability.