Intelligent Data Centres Issue 27 | Page 63

UNCOVERING THE LAYERS
Wendy Torell , Senior Research Analyst , Schneider Electric Data Centre Science Centre
deploying 100,000 data centres , each consuming 10kW of power would create a power consumption of 1,000MW for the IT energy alone . Assuming a moderate Power Usage Effectiveness ( PUE ) ratio of 1.5 would mean these systems also emit the equivalent of 800k tons of CO 2
.
However , if each Edge facility was standardised and designed for a PUE of 1.1 , we could reduce the total CO 2 emissions to 580K tons annually . Clearly ,
there is a need to apply the same due diligence to reducing power consumption at the Edge as there has long been in the case of larger data centres . Consequently , there is also a clear benefit in producing pre-integrated systems where standardisation , modularity , performance and sustainability form fundamental components .
These building blocks offer users the ability to design , build and operate Edge data centres for greater sustainability , while energy efficient technologies such as lithium-ion UPS and liquid cooling can help to reduce burdens on the system , overcome potential component failures and allow for higher performance without negatively affecting PUE .
Open and vendor-agnostic , nextgeneration Data Centre Infrastructure Management ( DCIM ) platforms are also essential , not just from a remote monitoring perspective , but to drive energy efficiency , security and uptime . However , with Edge demands accelerating , how can industry professionals get an understanding of the impact Edge Computing is having on the world ’ s energy consumption , and how can focusing on efficiency and sustainability influence that ?
Forecasting Edge energy consumption
Schneider Electric has recently developed a new TradeOff Tool ; the Data Centre & Edge Global Energy Forecast , which helps users to model and create possible global energy consumption scenarios based on a set of pre-input assumptions . This includes the design of the physical infrastructure systems and its associated Power Usage Effectiveness ( PUE ) rating , as well as anticipated growth of data centre and Edge loads between now and 2040 .
Based on these assumptions , the tool generates several forecast charts depicting total energy in TWh consumed by both Edge and centralised data centres , total IT energy ( TWh ), total energy mix comparing the percentages consumed in the Edge and central sectors and the IT energy mix between each sector . www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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