Sustainable Technology Businesses-How Data Centers are Shaping a Greener Tomorrow

In the digital age, the significance of big data applications cannot be overstated, but their reliance on vast data support infrastructure, namely data centers, raises environmental concerns due to their substantial power consumption.

Big data applications require huge data support infrastructure, including a massive volume of storage. These large computer warehouses that store voluminous data for further processing are referred to as data centres. 

In this context, sustainable technologies adopted by data centers emerge as crucial, setting an example for the IT sector’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint.

These data centres are sprawling campuses spread across vast areas – larger than two Walmart stores itself (at almost 307,000 square feet in one case).

Gartner Predicts 75% of Organisations Will Have Implemented a Data Center Infrastructure Sustainability Program by 2027

Data centers have been increasingly used in a variety of applications such as healthcare, e-commerce, nuclear science, and smart grids, among others.

These data centers that house thousands of servers are pathways to exascale bytes of data traffic. It is important to keep in mind that these data centres work 24 x 365 days of the year and have therefore become one of the largest consumers of power.

Simple but interesting statistics show how when one of us decides to watch a one-hour episode of a television show, our carbon footprint is equivalent to that of a 100-metre car journey or that an individual email contributes 1.2 kilograms of CO2 to the atmosphere every year (WSJ Business, 2016).  

Therefore, energy-efficient strategies that will enable data centers to be operationally efficient as well as environmentally committed are important. Data centres and their green perspective thus become a marked example of sustainability for the IT sector which is otherwise marred by an infamous statistic of being the consumer of 7% of the global electricity supply.

Top benefits of organisational sustainability initiatives

According to a Gartner survey, the top three benefits of implementing sustainability programmes in companies include: 

Cost reduction

Gartner highlights that organisations have the potential to achieve significant cost savings, up to 60%, by extending the product life spans of their assets from three to five years. Moreover, enhancing server utilisation and optimising storage capacity presents an additional avenue for minimising waste and realising substantial cost savings.

Innovation

Organisations are leveraging sustainable strategies to fuel innovation and foster growth by introducing new products and pioneering business models. The commitment to sustainability often prompts a reevaluation of traditional business models, inspiring the development of innovative products that cater to evolving consumer demands. 

Enhanced risk management & mitigation

Amidst market disruptions marked by price fluctuations and supply challenges, organisations can increase their resilience and improve risk management by embracing sustainable recycling and resource utilisation practices. This involves the adoption of renewable energy sources, self-generation of power, and maximising the reuse and redeployment of equipment. 

According to a Gartner survey, over 85% of business leaders acknowledge sustainability as an investment that safeguards the organisation from potential disruptions.

Sustainable strategies adopted by data centers

How do data centers become green? Let us examine a few sustainable strategies followed by data centres:

Green locations

Companies with mighty data centers are now on the lookout for locations that have a natural advantage. Nordic countries, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, are prime examples. 

The proximity to the Arctic Circle provides lower temperatures, reducing power consumption and emissions. Facebook’s data centre in Lulea, Sweden, leverages the chilly Nordic climate to prevent overheating, showcasing the importance of environmentally friendly locations (WSJ Business, 2016).

Green energy

The adoption of on-site renewable energy is a key strategy for sustainable data centers. Intel’s use of green data centres in the US based on solar panels is a pivotal example in this case.

Google Cloud has been a pioneer in green energy efforts, setting numerous global benchmarks along the way. In 2007, it became the inaugural major corporation to attain carbon neutrality. A decade later, Google Cloud made history again by becoming the first major company to align its entire energy consumption with 100% renewable sources.

In 2021, Schneider Electric was recognised as the world’s most sustainable company and named the top PPA marketplace solution provider for 2022 by Guidehouse Insights. Schneider’s EcoStruxure Smart Grid has made 40% of Italy’s energy renewable. The company aims to provide 50 million people with access to green electricity by 2025. 

In order to optimise energy usage, these data centers schedule their workloads according to the availability of renewable energies. Apart from solar energy, seawater and geothermal energy are also tapped as a part of green practices (Oró, et al., 2015).

Green processes

There are other examples of data centers that require no water and are dependent on passive heat rejection systems. 

Reusing the waste heat from various installations in the data center building is also considered a step in this direction.

According to a survey by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 50% of respondents highlighted the need to increase the use of renewables in data centers. Wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal are among the key renewable energy sources that data center operators across the globe have invested in.

Conclusion on sustainable technology businesses

The growing demand for data centers, coupled with a strong environmental focus, is driving organisations to innovate and prioritise sustainability. As technology is increasingly seen as a tool to mitigate climate impact, the responsible and sustainable practices of data centres become integral. 

These facilities, acting as the backbone of the global business, economy, communication, and consumer services, exemplify the potential for technology to lead the way in reducing environmental impact (Baccour, et al., 2017).

Living In The Times Of Sustainable Businesses

References

Baccour, et al., 2017. PTNet: An efficient and green data center network. Journal of Parallel Distributed Computing, Issue 107, pp. 3 – 18.

Bilal, et al., 2014. A taxonomy and survey on Green Data Center Networks. Future Generation Computer Systems, Volume 36, pp. 189 – 208.

GreenBiz, 2013. 12 green data centers worth emulating from Apple to Verne. [Online]
Available at: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/12-green-data-centers-worth-emulating-apple-verneorter, V., Garcia, A. & Salom, J., 2015.

Energy efficiency and renewable energy integration in data centres. Strategies and modeling review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Issue 42, pp. 429 – 445.

WSJ Business, 2016. How Green is Your Digital Footprint? [Online]
Available at: http://partners.wsj.com/digiplex/green-digital-footprint

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