Innovative Ways to make Data Centres more Sustainable
The demand for computing power has increased by the factor of ten since 2010 and data centres are consuming more and more electricity. New technologies such as machine learning in networked factories or online streaming services further multiply the need for data processing and analysis. Although data centres have already become more energy efficient, as the energy demand per gigabit has decreased, the higher energy demand almost cancels out this improvement. In Germany, there are currently 50,000 data centres of all sizes owned by IT companies, public authorities, universities, banks or industrial companies.
To increase the efficiency of data centres, cooling is the decisive factor, as it consumes almost as much electricity as data processing.
Innovative ways to make data centres more sustainable:
Cooling with water
Water absorbs heat better than air. On the other hand, water cooling can be expensive to install and maintain. Water cooling also strains local resources and often causes significant water and sewer construction projects. In addition, the disposion of harmful by-products of cooling could be complex and costly.
Integrating data centres into urban planning and building design
In Frankfurt, office and conference rooms, hotel rooms and restaurants in the Frankfurt Eurotheum are warmed by the integrated data storage. How local communities can also benefit from waste heat utilisation is demonstrated by the Volkswagen Financial Service AG data centre, which supplies heat to 100 houses in the surrounding area. For local waste heat utilisation, however, it is necessary to involve not only city and building planners and IT service providers, but also energy suppliers.
Using waste heat for food production
For example, by building greenhouses next to a data centre to run on waste heat.
In order to make the use of waste heat more attractive, however, financial incentives would have to be provided.
To increase the efficiency of data centres, cooling is the decisive factor, as it consumes almost as much electricity as data processing.
Innovative ways to make data centres more sustainable:
Cooling with water
Water absorbs heat better than air. On the other hand, water cooling can be expensive to install and maintain. Water cooling also strains local resources and often causes significant water and sewer construction projects. In addition, the disposion of harmful by-products of cooling could be complex and costly.
Integrating data centres into urban planning and building design
In Frankfurt, office and conference rooms, hotel rooms and restaurants in the Frankfurt Eurotheum are warmed by the integrated data storage. How local communities can also benefit from waste heat utilisation is demonstrated by the Volkswagen Financial Service AG data centre, which supplies heat to 100 houses in the surrounding area. For local waste heat utilisation, however, it is necessary to involve not only city and building planners and IT service providers, but also energy suppliers.
Using waste heat for food production
For example, by building greenhouses next to a data centre to run on waste heat.
In order to make the use of waste heat more attractive, however, financial incentives would have to be provided.
Sources:
DW: Green-IT: Wie Rechenzentren nachhaltiger werden können, Online available: Green-IT: Wie Rechenzentren nachhaltiger werden können | Wirtschaft | DW | 07.07.2020
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