The world is facing the problem of global warming. The EU net zero carbon pact sets some targets that must be achieved by the industry, especially the data center industry, which contributes 2% of carbon emissions from the 36.6 billion tons of global carbon emissions globally.
EU Net Zero Carbon Emission Target
The European Commission announced last month that it would require all new and renovated data centers to be certified under the EU’s “net zero carbon” standard, which requires a total greenhouse gas emissions budget for the facility. This is another step in the EC’s plan to reach its goal of an emissions-free European economy by 2050.
According to Greenpeace, the European Union’s plan to commit to carbon-free buildings by 2050 is an important step in the right direction. Although it’s not a legally binding plan, the EU’s commitment is a positive development that recognizes how much power data centers can hold in meeting future energy demands.
Data centers are responsible for 2% of greenhouse gas emissions, which puts them at number 12 on the list of top emitters worldwide. They also produce 1% carbon dioxide in America alone, making twice as many greenhouse gases as the airline industry.
The environmental organization says that the data center industry will be accountable for 732 million tons of CO2 emissions by 2020 while researching and developing solutions to reduce carbon emissions. Although there are multiple ways to reduce data center emissions and increase efficiency, Greenpeace recommends using renewable energy and promoting the smart use of energy as two key components of a sustainable data center strategy.
Some countries have implemented legislative measures that will penalize data centers and other energy-intensive enterprises if they do not set targets to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint by a certain amount by a certain date.
Current data center energy consumption is unsustainable.
The energy used by data centers will increase as more people can connect to the internet and use data-intense applications. It will cause an increase in the demand for data center power, which will further increase greenhouse gas emissions. A large percentage of electricity is used to cool servers; green energy has been shown to reduce this need.
Although this may not seem like a problem, much research suggests that data center energy consumption is only sustainable if we change how we operate our companies. If we continue to run our data centers without making efforts to decrease our energy consumption, then a disastrous future is inevitable.
Reducing the data center’s carbon footprint is a huge undertaking for the many IT organizations grappling with concerns about sustainability and the environment. But it can be done—and it should be done. Organizations can reduce the amount of energy used in their facilities, including reducing the overall size of their data centers, reducing energy consumption from existing hardware, and leveraging green energy options.
By tapping into local renewable resources, such as wind or solar power, companies can help ensure that their electricity comes from a clean source that doesn’t harm the environment. That can mean anything from using green energy credits to offset carbon emissions to directly purchasing your area’s kilowatts generated by wind turbines or solar panels.
Green energy for data centers can be implemented in various ways, including using more renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass. There have been many different efforts to save on electricity and decrease greenhouse gases by using green energy. These efforts include recycling servers and cooling towers and introducing cold aisle containment that uses outside air through low-temperature air-side economization and other methods.
How to reduce the data center’s carbon footprint by up to 100%?
Sustainability is a big word that means many things to many people, but we can boil it down to three central precepts:
- Preserving resources for future generations.
- Reducing pollution and waste.
- Offering products and services that are environmentally conscious.
In the past decade, data center sustainability has been a growing area of interest for companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, which account for an outsized percentage of the world’s energy consumption. These companies have made considerable strides in reducing their energy bills and carbon footprint by figuring out how to use less per server while reducing the number of servers they need.
Fundamental principles have guided their efforts:
- Invest in renewable energy.
- Keep the data center’s environmental footprint as small as possible.
- Optimize data center efficiency.
Some energy efficiency software is available today and can lower your company’s total carbon footprint by up to 100%. Reducing energy consumption in a data center will lead to financial savings and help you implement a greener IT strategy. This can be achieved by choosing green energy sources or implementing renewable energy projects.
Many data centers are now using the standard that will direct them to run more efficiently. It is called the PUE (power usage effectiveness) rating. Many companies have started putting this in place because it will help them save money on their energy bills and make their data center much more sustainable than before.
Conclusion
Data centers account for 2% of total global greenhouse emissions—roughly equivalent to the emissions of Germany—and are expected to nearly double in size over the next five years as demand for cloud computing continues to rise. While we should also be concerned about how much energy our homes use, data centers stand apart because they form a sizable chunk of all electricity used worldwide.
The EU is making a commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. This goal includes all buildings, not just private homes. Net-zero carbon buildings require much less energy than conventional ones—they’re built with energy efficiency in mind, and they use renewable energy sources like solar power to produce as much energy as they consume.
Data center owners, usually large enterprises or service providers, strongly influence their local community. By implementing green solutions, they can help reduce their carbon footprint while improving the quality of life in their community by reducing air pollution and promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy use among their citizens.
With no fuel costs and no emissions, this new way of generating power for your data center can save both time and money for you. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s a way for your organization to stand out as environmentally conscious!.
Read more: North US Digital Business Seeking Greener Data Center.