Sustainability

Digital Realty signs renewable energy deals in Spain and France

Digital Realty, a global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions, today announced the signing of five power purchase agreements (PPA) to serve its operations in Spain and France - underscoring the company’s commitment to expanding its renewable energy coverage globally and meeting its sustainability goals. In Spain, Digital Realty has signed a package solar deal comprising three separate 12-year agreements. The projects, developed by BRUC, a leading solar developer headquartered in Spain, are located in the Spanish provinces of Cadiz and Zaragoza. “For BRUC, this agreement is part of our strategy of achieving stable, long-term income with reputed companies that share our vision of a renewable energy transition to fight against climate change,” says Luis Venero, Chief Executive Officer, BRUC. Additionally, Digital Realty has signed two 15-year deals for wind energy in France. The projects, developed by wpd, a leading renewable energy project developer headquartered in Germany, encompass small wind farms in the French regions of Bretagne and Hauts-de-France. “We at wpd are proud to support our customers’ objectives to reduce their carbon footprint,” notes Grégoire Simon, President of wpd onshore France. “We are therefore delighted to be working with Digital Realty on the recently concluded PPA for wind farms at two sites in France. PPA contracts offer cost-effective and predictable energy supply solutions for companies wishing to commit to the energy transition.” Together, these PPAs represent an estimated 347 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of renewable energy, equivalent to the electricity usage of approximately 200,000 households across Europe annually. The projects will also add to the pool of renewable energy across Europe where Digital Realty’s operations have been 100% matched with renewable energy since 2020. Aaron Binkley, Vice President of Sustainability, Digital Realty, comments, “The signing of these most recent deals in Spain and France is the result of the continued execution of Digital Realty’s sustainability strategy, designed to support the development of high-quality renewables and strengthen our renewable energy coverage. We’re committed to continuing to expand our renewable energy portfolio and making progress towards our global sustainability goals.” In 2020, Digital Realty joined the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), becoming the first global data centre organisation of its size and scale to do so. As part of this commitment, the company aims to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 68% and Scope 3 emissions by 24% by 2030. With over 120 data centres worldwide now matched with 100% renewable electricity, Digital Realty says that it continues to lead the industry in sustainable data centre solutions. The company has executed 15 renewable energy PPAs globally, generating approximately 2,200 GWh of renewable energy annually. Schneider Electric supported the negotiations, working to ensure the agreements met the standards of Digital Realty. “The data centre industry is one of the world’s most critical sectors, powering the global digital economy and driving the green transition through the adoption, generation, and development of renewable power,” explains Marc Garner, SVP, Secure Power Division, Schneider Electric, Europe. Marc continues, “Power purchase agreements such as these are integral to its future, helping energy-intensive industries to simultaneously reap the financial and sustainability benefits of green innovation, and we’re glad to support Digital Realty as it continues to decarbonise its world-leading data centre portfolio.” Digital Realty's dedication to sustainability and the successful execution of its renewable energy strategy are all part of the company's efforts to drive positive change and contribute to a greener future. For more from Digital Realty, click here.

Verne partners with VAXA to promote sustainability

Verne, a provider of sustainable data centre solutions for high intensity computing, and VAXA, a sustainable biotech food and nutrition producer, have announced a new partnership enabling Verne to offset its residual carbon emissions in Iceland, furthering its long-term sustainability goals and commitment to combatting greenwashing in the data centre industry. Even though Verne’s infrastructure in Iceland is powered by 100% renewable energy, it still has a small carbon footprint. In 2021, it powered data centre infrastructure and compute that was equivalent to over 10,000 homes’ electricity usage for the year, generating a carbon footprint of 574 tCO2e – equivalent to 70 homes’ annual energy usage. As part of the company’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its operations even further, Verne will work with VAXA to offset its residual Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions and provide customers with the world’s most sustainable digital infrastructure. VAXA is powering the circular economy in Iceland, with a focus on environmentally friendly, sustainable practices that, like Verne’s own facilities, utilise the country’s geothermal power. VAXA’s groundbreaking technology platform leverages the clean, natural outputs of a geothermal plant to grow microalgae indoors, completely independent of the weather conditions. This microalgae, a type known as spirulina, is a highly sustainable food product with a nutritional profile similar to beef. “Sustainability is at the heart of our business, and we’re always looking for ways to make a positive impact,” says Crystal Riedemann, VP Business Development at VAXA. “Partnering with Verne, a like-minded company that has also prioritised sustainability from day one, just made sense, and we’re delighted to be joining them in their mission to end greenwashing in the data centre industry.”  “We are incredibly excited to be partnering with VAXA, a highly innovative company that shares our own values and commitment to sustainability and the circular economy,” adds Dominic Ward, CEO, Verne. “As the only country powered by 100% renewable energy resources, Iceland is the most sustainable location on earth for data centres. But even still, operations produce emissions. The data centre industry has a responsibility to be transparent when it comes to sustainability reporting and show what it’s doing to minimise its impact on the planet; that’s why we publish our emissions data and have decided to partner with VAXA, a true sustainability pioneer, to offset our carbon emissions in Iceland.” For more from Verne, click here.

Data centre turns to solar for 60% of its power requirement

CtrlS Datacenters, Asia's largest Rated-4 data centre operator, has taken a significant stride towards sustainability by transitioning its Noida Data centre, DC1, to solar power. This move will enable the facility to meet 60% of its annual energy requirements through renewable sources. Furthermore, CtrlS Datacenters will extend renewable energy credits to all customers hosted within this facility, reinforcing its commitment to environmental stewardship. This initiative aligns with the company's sustainable charter, underscoring its dedication to reducing its carbon footprint and promoting the adoption of clean energy solutions. Speaking on the announcement, Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Founder & CEO of CtrlS Datacenters, says, "CtrlS Datacenters has set its eyes to achieve net zero by 2030. In line with our commitment to provide sustainable data centre facilities, CtrlS Datacenters has commissioned a solar power project for our Noida D1 data centre. This project is expected to generate 100GWh of electricity over its lifetime, offsetting 94,640 tonnes of CO2 emissions. This environmental impact is the equivalent to planting 189,281 trees. And this is just one of the many green initiatives that we shall announce this year." To achieve its net zero goals by 2030, CtrlS Datacenters is also actively investing in developing its captive solar power projects across major markets in India. In addition, the company is embracing cutting-edge green technologies across its data centres to enhance energy efficiency and minimise environmental impact. Initiatives such as water recycling, direct-to-chip cooling (DTC) and liquid cooling are expected to significantly reduce energy consumption by up to 40% in the future. For more from CtrlS Datacenters, click here.

Analysts predict surge in AI data centre electric consumption

According to analysis by Stocklytics.com, AI data centre electricity consumption threatens to surpass Belgium’s overall usage in the next two years, with predictions that AI data centres will demand well over 90TWh by 2026. This comes in stark contrast to 2022, when their power usage was nearly nil. Stocklytic’s Financial Analyst, Edith Reads, comments, "Electricity has become an indispensable resource for nearly every industry. With AI data centres heightening demand for power supply, it may lead to a more augmented strain on electricity grids around the world. Amazon’s chief already hinted at a derail in their AI project, due to ‘not enough energy’ - signalling that AI industries could consume more energy than expected in the coming years." AI data centres are the latest additions to the power supply brawl, implying a subtle takeover from traditional technologies. As of 2022, traditional data centres consumed a significant 346 Twh, while AI data centres consumed nowhere near that, with power consumption almost nominal. However, AI data centres will be well ahead of many other industries’ power consumption, with an incredible upward surge predicted by 2026. By then, the combined electricity demand from traditional data centres, AI infrastructure, and cryptocurrencies is braced to hit the 1000 TWh mark, underscoring the immense escalation from AI and cryptocurrency centres. This surge will elevate data centre energy requirements from the equivalent of France’s consumption to that of Japan, the world’s fifth-largest power consumer, underlining the pressing need for sustainable energy solutions. The power-hungry AI data centres have only fastened the urge to rely on more dependable energy sources, like renewables, instead of coal. Electricity production via coal is still one of the significant contributors to pollution and the resulting global warming. Since the demand for it as a resource is not quelling, world leaders must keep up with the demand cycle to develop energy-producing sustainable solutions to support the AI centres and the wholesome global arena. AI data centres are mushrooming with a resilient fire to keep developing and holding onto ingenuity, which will essentially create an impressive and stable economic space. However, its new dependence on the power supply will be vital in defining its paved future and trajectory.

How data centres can prepare for 2024 CSRD reporting

by Jad Jebara, CEO of Hyperview. The CEO of Britain's National Grid, John Pettigrew, recently highlighted the grim reality that data centre power consumption is on track to grow 500% over the next decade. The time to take collective action around implementing innovative and sustainable date centre initiatives is now - and the new initiatives such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is the perfect North Star to guide the future of data centre reporting. This new EU regulation will impact around 50,000 organisations, including over 10,000 non-EU entities with a significant presence in the region. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires businesses to report their sustainability efforts in more detail, starting this year. If your organisation is affected, you’ll need reliable, innovative data collection and analysis systems to meet the strict reporting requirements. CSRD replaces older EU directives and provides more detailed and consistent data on corporate sustainability efforts. It will require thousands of companies that do business in the EU to file detailed reports on the environmental impact and climate-related risks of their operations. Numerous metrics being assessed are still widely analysed within additional EU-wide initiatives. For instance, the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) requires reporting on two Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) within the CSRD Directive – ITEEsy and ITEUsy – allowing for enhanced measuring and insight into server utilisation, efficiency, and CO2 impact. Given the anticipated explosion in energy consumption by data centres over the next decade, CSRD will shine a spotlight on the sustainability of these facilities. For example, the law will require organisations to provide accurate data for both greenhouse gases and Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. The essential metrics that data centres will need to report on include:   Power usage effectiveness (PUE) – measures the efficiency of a data centre’s energy consumption   Renewable energy factor (REF) – quantifies the proportion of renewable energy sources used to power data centres   IT equipment energy efficiency for servers (ITEEsv) – evaluates server efficiency, focusing on reducing energy consumption per unit of computing power   IT equipment utilisation for servers (ITEUsv) – measures the utilisation rate of IT equipment   Energy reuse factor (ERF) – measures how much waste energy from data centre operations is reused or recycled     Cooling efficiency ratio (CER) – evaluates the efficiency of data centre cooling systems    Carbon usage effectiveness (CUE) – quantifies the carbon emissions generated per unit of IT workload   Water usage effectiveness (WUE) – measures the efficiency of water consumption in data centre cooling   While power capacity effectiveness (PCE) isn’t a mandatory requirement yet, it is a measure that data centres should track and report on as it reveals the total power capacity consumed over the total power capacity built. If not already, now is the time to ensure you have processes and systems in place to capture, verify, and extract this information from your data centres. We also recommend conducting a comprehensive data gap analysis to ensure that all relevant data will be collected. It’s important to understand where your value chain will fall within the scope of CSRD reporting and how that data can be utilised in reporting that’s compliant with ESRS requirements. For example, reports should be machine-readable, digitally tagged and separated into four sections – General, Environmental, Social and Governance. While the immediate impact of CSRD will be in reporting practices, the hope is that, over time, the new legislation will drive change in how businesses operate. The goal is that CSRD will incentivise organisations such as data centre operators to adopt sustainable practices and technologies, such as renewable energy sources and circular economy models. Improving sustainability of data centres    Correctly selecting and leveraging Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) that offers precise and comprehensive reports on energy usage is a paramount step in understanding and driving better sustainability in data centre operations. From modelling and predictive analytics to benchmarking energy performance - data centres that utilise innovative, comprehensive DCIM toolkits are perfectly primed to maintain a competitive operational advantage while prioritising a greener data centre future. DCIM modelling and predictive analytics tools can empower data centre managers to forecast future energy needs more accurately, in turn helping data centres to optimise operations for maximum efficiency. Modelling and predictive analytics also enables proactive planning, ensuring that energy consumption aligns with actual requirements - preventing unnecessary resource allocation and further supporting sustainability objectives.  Real-time visibility of energy usage gives data centre operators insight into usage patterns and instances of energy waste, allowing changes to be made immediately. Ultimately, eliminating efficiencies faster means less emissions and less energy waste. In addition to enhancing operational efficiency, leveraging these real-time insights aligns seamlessly with emission reduction goals – supporting a more sustainable and conscious data centre ecosystem. Utilising the right DCIM tools can also reduce energy consumption by driving higher efficiency in crucial areas such as cooling, power provisioning and asset utilisation. They can ensure critical components operate at optimal temperatures, reducing the risk of overheating and preventing energy wastage. In addition to mitigating overheating and subsequent critical failures, utilising optimal temperature tools can also improve the lifespan and performance of the equipment. The right DCIM tool kit enables businesses to benchmark energy performance across multiple data centres and prioritise energy efficiency – while also verifying the compliance of data centres with key environmental standards and regulations like CSRD. Cutting-edge DCIM platforms also enables data centres to correctly assess their environmental impact by tracking metrics such as power usage effectiveness (PUE), carbon usage effectiveness (CUE) or water usage effectiveness (WUE). These tools facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources - such as solar panels or wind turbines - into the power supply and distribution of green data centres. As sustainability continues to move up the corporate agenda, expect to see greater integration of DCIM with AI and ML to collect and analyse vast quantities of data, such as sensors, devices, applications and users. In addition to enhancing the ease of data collection, this streamlined approach aligns seamlessly with CSRD emission reduction goals - making compliance with CSRD and similar regulations much easier for data centres. Taking a proactive approach to the data gathering requirements of CSRD and implementing technologies to support better sustainability practice isn’t just about compliance or reporting; it’s also to incentivise data centre operators towards the adoption of sustainable practices and technologies. Ultimately, data centres that are prepared for CSRD will also be delivering greater value for their organisation while paving the way for a more sustainable future.

Partnership to train Singapore engineers on water management

Nalco Water, an Ecolab company, and ITE are joining forces through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to solidify a collaborative partnership that will advance knowledge transfer, education, and hands-on experience in the field of water management and sustainable operations. Nalco Water will deliver lectures on data centre-specific topics such as water reclaim, reuse, and recycling, as well as sustainable design, maintenance practices, and artificial intelligence in data centre operations. In addition, the partnership entails a comprehensive knowledge exchange programme, with learning opportunities and practical water management applications. Nalco Water will provide a learning online portal accessible to students and will include training modules covering water fundamentals, water safety, safe chemical handling, reverse osmosis systems, and analytical field testing. The programme will benefit current student engineers working in the data centre industry, Ecolab claims. Speaking at the MOU signing, Ms. Poh Li San, MP Sembawang West and Deputy Chairperson GPC for Sustainability and Environment, comments, “In line with the Singapore Green Plan 2030, the government is proactively encouraging the delivery of best-in-class power generation technology that meets emission standards and reduces carbon emissions. The whole-of-nation plan highly supports collaboration between private organisations and institutions to drive innovation in sustainable data centre technologies and practices that improve energy efficiencies, reduce environmental impact, and enhance the overall sustainability of data centre operations.” “We are thrilled to formalise this collaboration with ITE”, adds Mr Gregory Lukasik, Senior Vice President and Market Head of Southeast Asia at Ecolab. “Ecolab recognises the vital role of data centres in supporting the digital infrastructure. In Singapore, our expertise helps data centres implement innovative water-efficient technologies and sustainable practices, aligning with the nation's commitment to water conservation while meeting the demands of a digital-driven economy. This strategic partnership represents our commitment to fostering knowledge transfer and cultivating the next generation of talent in water management and environmental sustainability.” Ms Low Khah Gek, CEO of ITE, notes, “ITE and Ecolab share the same commitment towards sustainability and innovation. Through this collaboration, we hope to catalyse positive change across the industry and society by providing some 200 work-study diploma trainees with access to educational resources and hands-on experiences in sustainable water management, water auditing and more.” To learn more about how Ecolab works with customers to help solve the world’s most complex problems amid a changing landscape, click here. For more from Ecolab, click here.

New initiative to reduce fibre optic cable packaging waste

Reaffirming the company’s commitment to a sustainable future and reducing resource consumption, Huber+Suhner is to use 100% recyclable, FSC-certified paper packaging for its entire range of indoor fibre optic cable assemblies. This project is a contribution to the company's commitment to environmental responsibility through a 50% reduction in packaging emissions for indoor fibre optic cable assemblies (calculated according to ISO 14040, based on supplier data). The company claims that it will result in the number of single-use plastic bags being utilised will fall by 2.2 million per year. “This initiative represents one small step in our company-wide journey to drive sustainability in our operations and products,” says Huber+Suhner's Head of Global Sustainability, Lana Ollier. “In an industry where the use of single-use plastic packaging remains commonplace, our initiative serves to highlight that Huber+Suhner not only understands our corporate responsibility, but our customers’ growing demand for more sustainable products.” The indoor fibre optic cable assemblies will be packaged in 100% recyclable, FSC-certified paper that includes the bags, cable ties and box tape. For customers, the paper packaging will be easier and faster to open, saving crucial time during installation. As the paper covers and cable ties weigh less than the plastic previously used, less resources are consumed, and costs relating to transport and disposal will also be reduced. The new packaging is also 100% dust-free, mitigating the risk of potential contamination. This is important in data centres where indoor fibre optic cable assemblies are often deployed. If the packaging of these solutions generates dust, it can affect key components of the installation process as well as negatively affect operational performance. “Our new environmentally friendly packaging has been designed with our customers in mind,” said Huber+Suhner's Head of Product Management, Vanesa Alias. “Switching to paper packaging reduces overall installation time as well as our customers’ waste volume and operational expenditure. This is one step of many sustainable initiatives in the pipeline, and we are excited to share our sustainability plans with our customers in due course.” HUBER+SUHNER will also see additional product lines, including indoor fibre optic cable systems and harsh environment fibre optic cable assemblies, switch to sustainable packaging over the coming months. For more from Huber+Suhner, click here.

How DCs can develop science-based goals – and succeed at them

by Anthea van Scherpenzeel, Senior Sustainability Manager at Colt DCS. Sustainability has swiftly evolved over the last 10 years from a nice-to-have, to a top business concern. The data centres industry is one that is frequently criticised for its excessive energy usage and environmental effects. For example, data centres account for about a fifth of Ireland's total power use, while global data centre and network electricity consumption in 2022 was expected to be up to 1.3% of global final electricity demand. It is clear that responsible roadmaps and measurable targets are needed to lessen the impact of data centres' energy use. But some in the industry really don't know where to begin. The IEA asserts that the data centre industry urgently needs to improve, citing a variety of reasons such as a lack of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, a lack of internal expertise, or a culture that values performance and speed over environmental credentials. In order to effectively address environmental challenges at the rate required to realise a global net-zero economy, it is imperative that science-based targets and roadmaps are established. It is the industry's duty to move forward with the most sustainable practices possible so that ESG impacts will be as small as possible when demand rises as a result of new technology and developing markets. It is also expected that by 2027, the AI sector alone will use as much energy as the Netherlands, making it more important than ever to take steps that are consistent with the science underlying the Paris Agreement. Being accountable under science-based targets Science-based targets underline the short and long-term commitment of businesses to take action on climate change. Targets are considered science-based if they align with the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. More recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its sixth Assessment Report reaffirming the near linear relationship between the increase in CO2 emissions due to human activities and future global warming. Colt DCS resubmitted its science-based targets in 2023 in line with the latest Net Zero Standard by the Science-based Targets initiative. The targets cover a range of environmental topics, including fuel, electricity, waste and water. These goals are vital not only for the data centres themselves but also to support customers in reaching their own net-zero goals. Science-based targets and roadmaps tells businesses how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions if we are to achieve a global net zero economy and prevent the worst effects of climate change. This extends to Scope 3 emissions – often the most challenging to track and manage – where data centre and business leaders must ensure that partners are on the same path to sustainable practices. Data centre leaders must commit, develop, submit, communicate, and disclose their science-based targets to remain accountable. Although science-based targets are vital to improve environmental impact, data centre operators must not forget to cover all three pillars of ESG in their sustainability strategies. Many organisations focus on the ‘E’ with the granularity of data easier to assess; however, social and governance prove just as important. Whether that’s connecting with local communities, safeguarding, or ensuring that governance and reporting are up to scratch, a further focus on the ‘S’ and the ‘G’ can prove a key differentiator. Turning targets into actions With these science-based targets in place, it’s time for data centres to turn targets into actions. Smart switches to new, more sustainable materials, technologies, and energy sources reduce the impact of data centres on the planet. For instance, switching to greener fuel options and procuring renewable energy or choosing refrigerants with a lower global warming potential, go a long way in reducing a data centre’s carbon footprint. A cultural change is also needed to ensure that sustainability becomes a vital part of business strategy. As well as shifting internal mindsets, collaboration with customers and suppliers will be crucial to meeting targets. Being on the same page, and not just thinking of sustainability as a tick-box exercise, must be at the industry’s core. Going one step further, measuring progress is an essential part of the sustainability journey. Close relationships with partners and suppliers are a key part of effective reporting to track Scope 3 emissions – not just for data centres, but also for the businesses that use them. With the incoming EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), this data sharing will prove more important than ever to gain a holistic overview of sustainability impacts along the entire value chain. The future for the digital infrastructure market The carbon footprint of the digital infrastructure market might be significantly reduced if the data centre business adopted science-based targets and actions as best practices. The ultimate objective should focus on embedded acts that begin as soon as land is obtained, rather than just reviewing daily operations. Data centres must make the site lifecycle as sustainable as possible, encompassing construction, materials, equipment, and operations. Measuring embedded carbon is essential to tracking a project's overall impact. For more from Colt DCS, click here.

AI and sustainability: Is there a problem? 

By Patrick Smith, Field CTO EMEA, Pure Storage AI can do more and more. Think of any topic and an AI or genAI tool can effortlessly generate an image, video or text. Yet the environmental impact of, say, generating a video by AI is often forgotten. For example, generating one image by AI consumes about the same amount of power as charging your mobile phone. A relevant fact when you consider that more and more organisations are betting on AI.   After all, training AI models requires huge amounts of data, and massive data centres are needed to store all this data. In fact, there are estimates that AI servers (in an average scenario) could consume in the range of 85 to 134Twh of power annually by 2027. This is equivalent to the total amount of energy consumed in the Netherlands in a year. The message is clear: AI consumes a lot of energy and will, therefore, have a clear impact on the environment.  Does AI have a sustainability problem?  To create a useful AI model, a number of things are needed. These include training data, sufficient storage space and GPUs. Each component consumes energy, but GPUs consume by far the largest amount of power. According to researchers at OpenAI, the amount of computing power used has been doubling every 3.4 months since 2012. This is a huge increase that is likely to continue into the future, given the popularity of various AI applications. This increase in computing power is having an increasing impact on the environment.   Organisations wishing to incorporate an AI approach should therefore carefully weigh the added value of AI against its environmental impact; while it’s unlikely a decision maker would put off a project or initiative, this is about having your cake and eating it. Looking at the bigger picture and picking technology which meets both AI and sustainability goals. In addition to this, the underlying infrastructure and the GPUs themselves need to become more energy-efficient. At its recent GTC user conference, NVIDIA highlighted exactly this, paving the way for more to be achieved with each GPU with greater efficiency.   Reducing the impact of AI on the environment  A number of industries are important during the process for training and deploying an AI model: The storage industry, data centre industry, and semiconductor industry. To reduce AI's impact on the environment, steps need to be taken in each of these sectors to improve sustainability.  The storage industry and the role of flash storage  In the storage industry, concrete steps can be taken to reduce the environmental impact of AI. An example is all-flash storage solutions which are significantly more energy-efficient than traditional disk-based storage (HDD). In some cases, all-flash solutions can deliver a 69% reduction in energy consumption compared to HDD. Some vendors are even going beyond off-the-shelf SSDs and developing their own flash modules, allowing the array’s software to communicate directly with flash storage. This makes it possible to maximise the capabilities of the flash and achieve even better performance, energy usage and efficiency, that is, data centres require less power, space and cooling.   Data centres power efficiency  Data centres can take a sustainability leap with better, more efficient cooling techniques, and making use of renewable energy. Many organisations, including the EU, are looking at Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) as a metric - how much power is going into a data centre vs how much is used inside. While reducing the PUE is a good thing, it’s a blunt and basic tool which doesn’t account for, or reward, the efficiency of the tech installed within the data centre.    Semiconductor industry  The demand for energy is insatiable, not least because semiconductor manufacturers - ,especially of the GPUs that form the basis of many AI systems - are making their chips increasingly powerful. For instance, 25 years ago, a GPU contained one million transistors, was around 100mm² in size and did not use that much power. Today, GPUs just announced contain 208 billion transistors, and consume 1200W of power per GPU. The semiconductor industry needs to be more energy efficient. This is already happening, as highlighted at the recent NVIDIA GTC conference, with CEO Jensen Huang saying that due to the advancements in the chip manufacturing process, GPUs are actually doing more work and so are more efficient despite the increased power consumption.   Conclusion  It’s been clear for years that AI consumes huge amounts of energy and therefore can have a negative environmental impact. The demand for more and more AI generated programmes, projects, videos and more will keep growing in the coming years. Organisations embarking on an AI initiative need to carefully measure the impact of their activities. Especially with increased scrutiny on emissions and ESG reporting, it’s vital to understand the repercussions of energy consumption by AI in detail and mitigate wherever possible.  Initiatives such as moving to more energy efficient technology, including flash storage, or improving data centre capabilities can reduce the impact. Every sector involved in AI can and should take concrete steps towards a more sustainable course. It is important to keep investing in the right areas to combat climate change!

Advania expands with atNorth site in Iceland

atNorth, a leading Nordic colocation, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence service provider, has announced an expansion of its partnership with Nordic IT services corporation, Advania, providing additional capacity at its ICE03 site in Iceland which opened last year. Advania is a long-standing customer of atNorth at its ICE01 site in Reykjavík, in addition to some of atNorth’s other data centres in Sweden and Finland. The expansion to the ICE03 campus allows for further geographical separation of their infrastructure and highlights the business’ focus on data security, not to mention the benefits of redundancy and performance optimisation. "atNorth’s ICE03 site in Akureyri helps to ensure our data security," says Hafsteinn Guðmundsson, Executive Director of IT Operations and Services at Advania, citing as an example that the regulatory framework of some companies that work with sensitive databases calls for data to be stored in geographically different locations. "It is now possible to achieve such separation and mirroring of data domestically by utilising two of atNorth’s sites in Iceland." “We are delighted that Advania has chosen to expand into our ICE03 data centre as part of our long standing relationship,” says Eyjólfur Magnús Kristinsson, CEO at atNorth. “We are proud to be able to offer increased services where security and connectivity is ensured and carbon footprint is minimised.” atNorth’s ICE03 data centre is located in the town of Akureyri, which is in the north of Iceland, and therefore, benefits from the country’s cool climate and renewable energy sources. Akureyri is becoming increasingly attractive as a thriving technology hub as a result of investment in better and more resilient connectivity in the region.