Carbon law threatens new data industry

Under the CRC scheme, public and private sector bodies will buy allowances equal to their annual carbon dioxide emissions. Organisations will then decide whether to buy extra allowance or reduce their energy consumption so that they do not have to spend as much on buying future permits. Banks, local authorities, supermarkets and water companies are all expected to fall within the scheme.

But Murray said that the system was already deterring companies from building data centres in Scotland, adding that countries such as Ireland, Holland and Switzerland stood to benefit. Murray said: "The UK government is clearly trying to use financial incentives to encourage businesses to reduce carbon emissions. In principle, there is nothing wrong with this. However, an important factor seems to have been neglected and that's the fact that businesses will do almost anything to keep their expenses as low as possible."

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