FEATURE
DATA CENTRES WILL BECOME THE WORLD ’ S
LARGEST USERS
OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION , WITH THE RATIO RISING FROM 3 % IN 2017 TO 4.5 %
IN 2025 .
Andy Connor , Channel Director , EMEA , Subzero Engineering
The data differs again in the January 2020 Uptime Institute Journal , which reports EU data centre energy consumption figures of 130 TWh in 2017 , alongside Greenpeace ’ s 2018 Chinese data centre figure of 160 TWh , which makes for a combined total of 290 TWh for China and Europe alone .
The fact is that as data centre capacity increases , so will energy usage . And while we may not agree on the exact numbers , few would argue about the direction of travel . So what can we do to change the trajectory and how can we begin to pinpoint consistency within sustainable strategies ?
A change in demand
Demands for Digital Transformation are a key factor behind data centre energy consumption , but rather than overload you with a tsunami of data , I would urge you to take a short time out to consider just how essential Information Technology has become to almost every factor of everyday life .
Take a typical workday , how do you communicate with colleagues ? What does your role entail ? Then think about your plans for the weekend ( lockdown not withstanding ) – have you thought about the films you ’ ll watch , the apps you might use , or your personal connection to a data centre ?
Now try and imagine a future that also includes Artificial Intelligence ( AI ), Augmented ( AR ) and Virtual Reality ( VR ), what impacts will this digital consumption have on the data centre industry , and what does it mean for sustainability ?
36 www . intelligentdatacentres . com