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When it comes to the Humane Web, I tend to see two distinct groups of news and articles. On the industry side, there are flashy announcements about new features. Take Google’s recent UI update, announced at their I/O conference. Lists of links are out and a LLM style experience is in. TechCrunch had an early, hyperbolic take “Google search as you know it is over” , while Time magazine “Google Shifts to AI Search, Heralding Major Change in How People Use the Internet” was slightly less breathless.
The Time article talks a little about the potential impacts on the internet that Google relies upon for its output, but doesn’t dwell on the matter. Web engineer Matthias Ott does dwell on this, in his piece “Ad Infinitum” though. Whatever happens it’s unlikely that it will be the last you hear about the changes to Google in Curiously Green.
The second group of articles that end up in my bookmarks folder cover the environmental and social impacts of tech. None of the articles I’ve read about Google’s UI changes mention this though, which is curious because there is more and more evidence that an increased amount of AI features means that digital emissions will go up (and up and up).
In April the UK government quietly announced that UK carbon emissions from data centers might be 100 times higher than previously forecast. Previous estimates put the forecast emissions from AI at 142,000 tons CO2e but that has now been revised to 123 million tons CO2e. Shedding some light into this upward shift, is the revelation that many of the UK’s new data centers plan to burn gas to power themselves. The requests for gas generation for data centers equate to 15 terawatt hours, which is equivalent to London’s energy requirements for around 4.5 months.
To put it simply, if the world is going to use more AI, for search, for business, for government, for daft smart glasses, that increase is going to be powered by fossil fuels.
The evidence of this is all around us, none more so than in Anthropic’s recent deal with Space X to use their Colossus data centre to increase their capacity. Anthropic’s lofty goals – “At Anthropic, we build AI to serve humanity’s long-term well-being” seem at odds with the decision to use a data center that is subject to legal challenges of its unpermitted usage of highly polluting gas turbines.
Fighting back
The Green Web Foundation is pushing hard to bring these increasing digital emissions into sharp focus. As part of their ambitious plan to push for a fossil fuel free internet by 2030 they are looking at the biggest obstacles in the way of this goal. In their first annual briefing they single out data centers. In their view there are “too many dirty data centres controlled by unaccountable companies”.
The site that presents the report is a masterclass in sustainable web design. Low weight data visualisation, clean coding, clear hierarchy and accessible legibility, the site itself is worth visiting just for that.
But the message is the most important thing. With a clear-eyed fury, the report takes aim at companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and others who are choosing growth, speed and recklessness over a more considered, safer roll out of their technologies.
Most importantly it provides clear pathways that work towards their goals.
- Reduce the energy demand – The internet must operate within planetary boundaries
- Green the energy – We’re calling on the digital sector to cut ties with fossil fuels
- Democratise tech – We need more alternative ownership models to rise to challenge corrosive power (of big tech companies)
Each of these pathways has three actions to support the next steps. These actions are things that anyone can engage with and get involved in.
If you read one thing in this newsletter from start to finish, it should be this report.
You can attend a free public briefing on the report this afternoon, the 27th May 2026. Sign up here.
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