FEATURE
the Uptime Institute cited data from the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation ( SPEC ) that showed server power consumption increasing by 266 % since 2017 . This surge is among various technical and market forces driving the focus on environmental awareness and sustainability in several of the 2023 trends identified by Vertiv ’ s experts . Those trends are as follows .
Data centres face increasing regulation
Mounting pressures to meet consumer demand for energy and water are forcing governments at all levels to take a harder look at data centres and their outsized consumption of those resources . Data centres are estimated to be responsible for up to 3 % of global electricity consumption today and projected to touch 4 % by 2030 . The average hyperscale facility consumes 20 – 50MW annually – theoretically enough electricity to power up to 37,000 homes . Vertiv ’ s experts expect this to prompt increasing governmental scrutiny in 2023 .
It ’ s happening in some places already . Dublin , Ireland , and Singapore have taken steps to control data centre energy use , and massive data centre water consumption – especially in areas prone to drought – is likely to trigger similar scrutiny . According to the US Department of Energy , the water usage effectiveness ( WUE ) of an average data centre using evaporative cooling systems is 1.8L per kWh . That type of data centre can consume 3 – 5 million gallons of water per day – similar to the capacity used by a city of 30,000 – 50,000 people . The industry will continue to take steps to self-monitor and moderate – including an increasing preference for environmentally-friendly thermal designs – but 2023 will see increases in regulatory oversight .
“ Organisations across Australia have spent the last few years focusing on how to effectively consume data to fuel innovation , growth and expansion ,” said Robert Linsdell , Managing Director Australia and New Zealand at Vertiv . “ But
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