Data centres are role models in sustainability
IT industry is at the heart of addressing environmental concerns that fuel greenhouse gases emission and subsequent climate change effects. The industry currently accounts for the huge consumption of power and with the projected demand of digitisation; its share is expected to double or even triple in a few years.
For the IT industry, reduction in reliance on energy sourced from fossil fuels is the priority. Big IT corporations are leading the way through the installation of data centres that are solely dependent on green energy. Other players in the industry are installing technologies that aim at reducing the amount of energy required. Data centres that are increasingly adopting technologies such as liquid immersion cooling are on the rise. With these measures, data centres are now the role models in sustainability.
Data centres – powerful voices for change
Data centres are responsible for 3% of global consumption and the figure is set to double within five years and triple by the next decade. Recent reports found that data centres account for 3% of the global carbon emission, a figure that is equivalent to the whole aviation industry. It is forecasted that this figure will rise with the projected data storage and related services demand. With the sheer size and scope of the business, data centres have a role to implement and promote sustainable practices and solutions. Given that digitisation is inevitable, data centres and the whole of the IT industry see it as their responsibility in ensuring sustainability in data consumption.
Data centres are increasingly waking up to the fact that dependence on fossil fuels and increased consumption of energy is unsustainable. They appreciate that real change is needed to ensure sustainability and tackle climate change emergencies. There is an industry push towards the reduction of power consumption and reliance on fossil fuel-powered energy.
In Europe, Climate Neutral Data Center Pact has been created and several members and associations have indicated a commitment to carbon neutrality. These companies have launched environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies and pledged to meet their Net Zero emissions target. Data centres have responded and are now powerful voices for change. They are playing an important role in lessening the impact on the environment. They are making commitments to reduce their carbon footprints, investing in technologies that reduce their energy consumption, and devising plans that improve their sustainability efforts. They are strategic on how their operations can be modelled along with increased efficiency; right from where and how they purchase their energy, cooling of the data centre infrastructure as well as the approach used in the provision of data storage services.
Other industries can borrow a leaf from data centres; they can recognise the need of modelling their business sustainably; adopting energy-efficient operations, sourcing their materials only from producers who have met environmental, social, and governance requirements, and shown commitment to reduce the carbon footprints. The ground has been set, data centres have shown it can be achieved. They are the role models, entities that are worth emulating if sustainability is to be achieved.
