Simultaneously resilient and sustainable Net Zero Data Centres
Thu 5 Nov 2020 | Susanna Kass | published at TECHERATI | Click here to read the full article
Over the last decade we have seen numerous individual technologies that improve energy efficiency. Now, we must create sustainable systems with them, writes Susanna Kass, Data Centre Advisor to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals program
Net Zero Data Centres are the next generation of sustainable data centres, forming the basis of clean energy infrastructure that is resilient, sustainable, and safe, as stated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
This approach requires a rethinking of a systems approach of how we design and build new data centres. The data centre industry will require thought leaders and pioneers who lead with ambition to reach a carbon pledge of net zero (carbon, emission, and waste) as described by the UN SDG goal #9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
Net Zero Data Centres use renewable energy as the primary power source throughout their life cycles to meet the goal of transitioning to carbon neutrality in this era. The metrics that Net Zero Data Centres use consider all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions protocols during 24/7 operation, as well as the embodied carbon used in the production and transportation of capital goods used and demolished during a data centre’s life.
These include the removal of the use of generators and power conditioning equipment used in conventional design to regulate the frequency of the power from the grid source to power the IT computer rack of expensive servers, storage, and network equipment.
The overall energy and materials resources consumed, and waste that is reduced form the Impact Analysis of a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), according to the ISO standard and the GHG Protocol for a decarbonization pathway.
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A call to arms – renewed focus on Sustainability by Design
The need for data centre operators to boost sustainability activity has never been more clear, and providers such as OVHcloud are now seizing on new opportunity to achieve aggressive zero carbon targets. A new InsightaaS report and webinar tackles the mechanics of a shift towards ecosystem thinking in the data centre.
If we needed more evidence of the criticality of data centre services, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided it.
As governments, businesses, and individuals and have moved online, working and playing remotely to uphold public health guidelines, data centres have stepped up to deliver the IT services needed to support this massive shift in behaviour.
For infrastructure providers, including the large cloud players, new pressure on capacity and service delivery demand is not likely to be short lived; while COVID has accelerated the digitization of collaboration and other processes, a return to pre-pandemic levels of digital activity is nostalgia that will not deliver the ubiquitous care, convenience and productivity that we are rapidly becoming accustomed to.
But growing demand for data centre services brings with it potential for a more ominous outcome – carbon emissions associated with data centre operation to address additional requirements.
At a time when the world is wrestling with the imperative to reduce GHG emissions to levels that would keep global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels, business as usual is no longer an option for the data centre industry …………. [ To read the full article, please access via here]
Rethink the way we use IT and drive down greenhouse gas emissions. Special edition of the My Green Pod distributed with the Guardian
Source: LinkedIn
The latest issue of the My Green Pod is all about how we should rethink the way we use our Information Technology (I.T.) and help to reduce the carbon emissions.
Focusing on the 4 key subjects: Remote Working, Devices, The Cloud and Re-Purposing, people from different industries share their stories on how they make it work to achieve the sustainable future.
“National emissions will be reduced as far as possible, and the rest balanced by schemes to offset an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Tree planting will play a part; the process of converting light energy into chemical energy via photosynthesis absorbs CO2 and emits oxygen. However, this natural capacity is limited by one key factor: land mass. As our climate crisis deepens, tree- planting strategies will only take us so far before we reach our coastlines.”
Professor Rob Procter & Justin Sutton-Parker take a look at ‘the world’s greenest public cloud’ sitting at the head of a hydroelectric dam in Boden, Sweden
This article has further explored into the great example of Hydro66, a cloud service provider taking a further step to focus on location-based energy rather than the market-based supply.
It continues to look into how renewable energy reduces the GHG emission associated with data center operations and why Hydro66 differentiate themselves from other public cloud providers that also focusing on renewable energy.
- Susanna Kass, a member of Climate 50, Data Center Advisor to UN SDG Program
“It’s time to do the right thing with your I.T. infrastructure. If you are in a leadership position, then it’s with you to encourage strategic moves towards green cloud infrastructure. ”
The full downloadable edition can be accessed via this URL here: https://bit.ly/3kjUGoO
This special issue has been published on 15 September 2020, and distributed with The Guardian on 16 September 2020.
About My Green Pod,
My Green Pod is an independent, family-run UK business, founded by Katie Hill and Jarvis Smith. They share the real stories behind the brands and people working tirelessly to offer ethical alternatives to mainstream products and services.
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarvis-smith-09201b10/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/mygreenpod
Twitter @mygreenpod
Facebook: facebook.com/mygreenpod
Instagram: @mygreenpod
Special thanks to
Rethinking the Cost of Ownership of Digital Infrastructure
- Susanna Kass, Data Center Advisor to UN Sustainable Development UNEP DTU Partnership, Member of Climate 50
Published on Cloud Expo Europe 17 July 2020
We can no longer measure the total cost of ownership for a Data Center solely in terms of economic costs for the traditional design, construction, and operation expense of a data center single site per megawatt installed.
We are living in a Connected Everything Era, with data centers rapidly expanding and depleting environmental resources. As an integral part of urban communities, they require abundant spaces and remain the primary driver of the global energy consumption in the foreseeable future.
This demand is disruptive during times of both peril and opportunity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 has altered the demands of digital infrastructure 24x7 around the world. What we learned from previous economic dislocations, such as the dotcom bust or the 2008 financial crisis, is that data center providers adapt, emerge, and stay resilient.
For the past twenty years, the data center industry has averaged a tremendous growth rate of 6% per year globally. We all recognize more Data Centers are being built, especially post COVID-19, to support the exponential growth of surges in Digital Services.
The current demand of Data Center infrastructure becomes a beneficiary of COVID-19, as a result of the shift to a socially distanced, contactless, and work-anywhere new normal.
Click here to access the full article on Cloud Expo Europe.
The cleanest data centers are the ones that aren’t built at all
If we want to keep society running, we must deliberately depart from linear practices and embrace end to end sustainability throughout the lifecycle of data centres.
- Susanna Kass, Data Center Advisor to UN Sustainable Development UNEP DTU Partnership, Member of Climate 50
Published on Cloud Expo Europe 16 June 2020
If we want to keep society running, we must deliberately depart from linear practices and embrace end to end sustainability throughout the lifecycle of data centres.
Consumption of environmental resources that are critical to data centers are becoming increasingly scarce as the demand for data centers, and their 24x7x365 resilient operation, continues to grow.
Digital transformation is a necessity to keep society running, especially in times of disaster such as the mass shutdowns to reduce transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the disease affected more people in the months following its initial discovery, a massive surge in the global usage of digital infrastructure was observed.
Digital services for virtual meetings, online learning, telemedical diagnostics, government services, ecommerce, grocery delivery, ebanking, and entertainment all experienced unprecedented growth in demand.
Depletion will eventually stop all growth
If the data center industry is to continue its path of innovation and provide critical infrastructure to connect the world, it must look to circular economics for its future, particularly to address rapid resource depletion…………..[To read more, please click here to see this article on Cloud Expo Europe]