Data center and sustainability: challenges and opportunities in the digital era.
Fernando Gómez es Technical Manager – EU Projects en Euro-Funding desde 2020, con experiencia coordinando propuestas europeas de I+D+i. Especialista en financiación europea, ha actuado como Technical Manager en programas como Horizon Europe, MSCA, ERC, EIC, LIFE, CBE, Eurostars, Clean Hydrogen, CEF o Innovation Fund, entre otros, y ha coordinado proyectos como REALIZE y ATM-EXCITE. Con más de 17 años de experiencia, ha desempeñado funciones de R&D Project Manager en entidades de referencia como HM Hospitales, IMDEA y CIB-CSIC, además de contar con una sólida experiencia previa en bioenergía y energías renovables. Es evaluador experto para la Comisión Europea (H2020 y Horizon Europe) y para EUREKA, así como mentor certificado de startups por la Fundación Madri+d y asesor acreditado por ACCIÓ en los ámbitos de bioenergía y economía circular. Es licenciado en Biología Molecular y cuenta con másteres en Energías Renovables y Economía Circular, además de formación especializada en gestión de proyectos de I+D+i.
Digital transformation has driven exponential growth in data generation, storage and analysis, becoming an essential pillar of the so-called Industry 4.0. This new paradigm, underpinned by technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and the Internet of Things, is not only redefining value chains and business models, but also raising questions about its environmental impact. In this context, data processing centers (DPCs) emerge as key infrastructures, but also as major sources of energy consumption and emissions. To what extent can these centers be sustainable in an increasingly digitized world?
Can data centers really be sustainable?
The term “Industry 4.0” refers to a new model of organization and control of the value chain throughout the product life cycle and across manufacturing systems supported and enabled by information technologies. This Industry 4.0 and the use of new technologies have developed a strong dependence on the use and storage of data. Statistics and advanced data analysis techniques have transformed the way personal data is used, creating a new paradigm where people act simultaneously as providers and receivers of products and services in a globalized environment.
From the point of view of the circular economy, digitalization has developed another series of highly innovative tools focused on reducing environmental impact. Data management and the application of digital solutions, such as digital platforms, smart devices, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and blockchain are already today enabling technologies to move towards the circular economy.
This “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” characterized by increased digital connectivity between people, products and systems, and driven by the Internet and mobile technology, has been a real catalyst for unlocking a wealth of opportunities.
Companies and users looking to adapt to the future need to increase digitization and care for their carbon footprint by first improving data capture, internal communication, reporting, analytics and transparency through the use of cloud services and big data. All these improvements will undoubtedly prepare them to gain a competitive advantage.
In the case of digital transformation in transportation, the change has been preceded by an evolution in the digitization of its procedures.
In short, the knowledge-based society needs to generate, store, distribute and use this data, and to this end, data processing centers manage the information contained in millions of technological devices. More than 22 billion devices are connected to the Internet according to HelpNetSecurity.
The environmental footprint of data processing centers
A data processing center (DPC), also known as a data center or Internet Data Center (IDC), is a physical facility where the essential computing resources for a company or service provider are grouped. These spaces, essential for data storage and management, are constantly evolving due to the advancement of technology and growing digital demands.
The digital sector is responsible for 3.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. One of the challenges facing the technology sector is environmental. The digital world, although it seems intangible, is based on a whole network of servers, network infrastructures and data centers that make it responsible for global greenhouse gas emissions.
The consumption of electronic products and digital services has an environmental cost, as studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show. DATA4 also warns this on the basis of GeSI SMARTer 2030 data. And the volume of users, data and thus energy requirements is growing steadily.
According to National Geographic magazine, “every minute 38 million WhatsApp messages are sent worldwide, 266,000 hours of Netflix are viewed, 4.3 million YouTube videos are watched and 3.7 million Google searches are performed, according to data from analytics company Cumulus Media published in Visual Capitalist. If the Internet were a country, it would be the sixth most polluting in the world. This is according to data from the Greenpeace organization in its report Clicking Clean”.
The main contributor to the environmental footprint of PDCs is the energy required to run their infrastructure. Data centers, mobile antennas and the devices needed to access the Internet require large amounts of electricity.
To compensate for voltage drops, large batteries are stored in data centers, like those in cars. Sometimes even huge diesel generators are used. The Internet is growing all the time, autonomous cars are on the horizon, portable devices and connected homes are on the rise. The cloud is expanding and there will be more and more data to process and store. To date, there are nine million data centers worldwide. And those on U.S. soil alone use 10% of the nation’s energy.
Jon Koomey, a professor at Stanford University, is one of the few who has calculated this impact and says that Internet use, taking into account all the elements that make it work, accounts for 8-10% of our energy consumption. Data centers account for 1.52%. For Jon Koomey, an expert in technological environmental impact, the most important elements to measure are what he calls “the big three”:
- The equipment we use to access the Internet (computers, tablets, laptops, routers).
- Data centers (which store and host the web pages).
- Access networks (the cabling and antennas that carry the data).
The Internet and its contribution to climate change
According to the consulting firm Gartner, the Internet’s carbon footprint surpassed that of the aviation industry as early as 2007, representing approximately 2% of global CO₂ emissions. More recent research by the Center of Excellence in Telecommunications Networks (CEET) in Australia estimated in 2013 that the telecommunications sector generated around 830 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, with a projection of doubling that figure by 2020 due to the accelerated growth of digital traffic and the intensive use of technological infrastructures.
Each search we perform on the Internet releases 0.2 grams of CO2 into the environment, which, according to Google itself, means that the greenhouse effect caused by a thousand searches would be equivalent to driving a car for one kilometer.
This huge ecological footprint is increasing all the time, making data centers one of the industries that will have the greatest impact on environmental conditions in the future, generating an additional cost for companies due to the pollution they generate.
This has led to the emergence of a green trend, which is driving major operators and leading colocation companies toward new, greener construction and operation policies for their facilities. And, in order to achieve maximum operating efficiency over the next decade, to generate less environmental impact while reducing operating costs, experts point to a number of key technologies:
- Liquid cooling: One of the most energy-saving systems in a data center is liquid cooling of servers and other electronic equipment.
- AI-driven infrastructure management: One of the best ways to optimize the use of all resources in a data center is to employ automated infrastructure management systems, and the advent of AI has made it possible to reach new heights in this field.
- Increased server utilization: better solution is to resort to automated infrastructure management systems, improving monitoring and enabling a core based on artificial intelligence.
- Quantum computing: not only will the computational capacity of computers increase exponentially, but energy efficiency will take a qualitative leap forward, which could reach 20 orders of magnitude with respect to current computer equipment.
- Predominance of hyperscale operators: The growth of the hyperscale market is also going to have a decisive influence on overall energy savings in the data center sector.
Green Data Centers: the future of sustainable digital infrastructure
A green data center, also known as a green data center, is an enterprise-level technology facility designed, managed and operated under sustainable computing principles. Unlike conventional data centers, these spaces optimize energy consumption, reduce the use of physical space and minimize their environmental impact. Their architecture and operation are oriented to preserve the natural environment, while maintaining the performance and capabilities of a traditional data center.
The United States government was one of the first to become aware of this issue. The United States Data Center Energy Usage report, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, calculates data center energy consumption based on parameters such as PUE. And they mark the efficiency of DPCs based on PUE indicators. The lower this indicator, the more efficient, the more sustainable the data center. We can speak of an efficient data center with a PUE of 1.6. Large companies such as Google have data centers with a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.12 and an efficiency ratio of 83%.
Building and operating a green data center includes advanced technologies and strategies. Here are some examples:
- Minimizing building footprints
- Use of low-emission building materials, carpets and paints
- Sustainable landscaping
- Waste recycling
- Installation of catalytic converters in backup generators
- Use of alternative energy technologies such as photovoltaics, heat pumps and evaporative cooling
- The use of hybrid or electric vehicles
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