What COP28 means for the data centre sector

As COP28 comes to an end for leaders worldwide, AI has been top of the agenda for technology’s climate impact. This is no different for the data centre industry and as many try to balance rising data demands with reaching net zero goals, we as a sector need to consider what changes we can make for long-term success in design.

There have been many articles looking at how AI can make a positive impact on sustainability goals, as well as how green hydrogen is enabling safer and sustainable energy storage, something our teams have been discussing for some time. In fact, our Technical Director, Joe Sheehan shared how on-premise hydrogen can provide benefits in greenhouse gas abatement, highlighting the increasing demand for new energy storage solutions.

For this i3news, we’re taking the key discussions from the energy day (5th December) and inviting a guest writer Joe Fortson , sustainability champion and student to help answer some of our questions. With extensive knowledge in climate change, Joe looks at how AI, green hydrogen and more can be utilised within the data centre industry with fresh eyes.

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1. How does the emergence of AI affect sustainability goals??

Undoubtedly, artificial intelligence (AI) holds profound potential to assist humankind in pioneering retaliation to the threat posed by the climate crisis. AI has helped us to rework foundational methodologies in weather tracking, medicine, and resource acquisition. Clearly, AI has latent abilities that can be utilised to assist data centre operations in a way that creates a more sustainable future.

Pertinently, AI, deep learning models specifically, may be trained on heat, energy, and resource use from data centres in order to optimise their automated cooling cycles and logically distribute resources so they fulfil their maximum capability. This will result in the facility using as little energy as possible in the cooling process and resource allocation while still fulfilling clients’ data requirements.

2. What part does green hydrogen play in future sustainable energy storage?

Green hydrogen is a desirable option for long-term energy storage for data centres, but its implementation into data centre lifecycles poses a gamut of challenges for traditionally powered sites. Its low energy density and small molecular dimensions can lead to leakage issues with storage and containment, which may become exponentially more difficult to deal with when transporting or placing it in underground tanks or holding facilities close to the data centre.?

With challenges throughout the supply chain, from renewably sourced power for green hydrogen production, to its transportation and storage, at this moment in time it is perhaps less worthy of application at this point in comparison to traditional sources. However, its potential has not yet been fully captured, perhaps due to the large energy outflow the electrolysis takes in the creation of green hydrogen.

In the near future, de-carbonisation of data centres through green hydrogen will no doubt become a more widely available option as we learn new ways to deal with the drawbacks of its implementation and economies of scale come into force as its production and use becomes more widespread.

Looking beyond data centres, sectors such as?heavy manufacturing, aviation, and cross-continental commerce?that have proved difficult to electrify directly?may become decarbonised with the introduction of green hydrogen. Carbon emissions can be considerably decreased in these industries by employing green hydrogen as a clean fuel, aiding in global endeavours that aim to slow?climate change.

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3. How can I work closer with suppliers for sustainable designs in my data centre?

Firstly, it’s paramount that you always make your sustainability goals clear to your supplier. This will assist them in helping you create infrastructural plans that are both cost-effective and cohesive to your business’ ecological objectives. Implementing the values of circular economy when working with suppliers can create a less fragile ecosystem regarding your data centre’s longevity, and through this, a more cost-effective operation. A good example of this is minimising waste through the development of more reusable server housing in collaboration with a supplier. Fostering collaborative, innovative relationships with your providers, encouraging them to invest in R&D, is a key method data centre owners can employ to take back control of their industry for a more sustainable future.

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Following the release of our award-winning GHG Abatement Series, designed to help inform and educate decision makers of sustainable changes to data centres, we understand that tackling climate change in the data centre sector is a task that must be done collectively. In the next newsletter, we’ll look at Singapore and how the data centre sector is changing in the APAC region.

Joe Fortson - Linguistics Student at 英国爱丁堡大学