Over the past half-century, our planet has undergone extraordinary change.
Industrialisation and technological advancements have reshaped society, and emerging technologies like AI and hyperscale data centres pose new challenges, such as increasing energy consumption and carbon footprints. As the digital economy grows, so do environmental pressures, making sustainability efforts more urgent than ever. It is our greatest and most pressing collective responsibility every day to protect our planet – to balance innovation with environmental responsibility to ensure a sustainable future for all.
How to power the planet?
The requirement to dramatically expand global renewable energy generation is urgent, with calls for capacity to triple by 2030 to meet climate targets. The demand comes as data centres and technologies such as AI put an unprecedented strain on power grids, and by extension, the environment. For example, across Europe, nearly 450 million people rely on data centres to store everything from personal photos and videos, to emails and business transactions. European data centres consume around 96 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. To put that into perspective, that’s roughly equivalent to the combined electricity consumption of the Netherlands, Poland, Ireland, and Romania.
As we all know, fossil fuels are major emitters of greenhouse gases and thus are primary contributors to global warming. According to the U.S Energy Information Administration in 2023, petroleum accounted for roughly 38% of U.S. energy consumption and was responsible for 47% of U.S energy-related CO2 emissions. Utilising renewable energy sources is crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions because renewables generate electricity without producing carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas.
However, renewable energy is only part of the solution. By 2030, the energy demands of European data centres are expected to triple, which could account for 43% of European citizens’ electricity needs. This exponential increase requires not only alternative power sources such as renewables, but fundamental change at the technology level to mitigate the energy needs of data centres in the modern age.
The dilemma in data centres
Data centres operate around the clock, housing three core technologies: servers to process data, storage systems to hold the data, and high-speed networks to move data. To keep these systems cool and functional, additional energy-intensive cooling and fire prevention systems are also necessary, sometimes consuming up to half of the energy used by the IT equipment itself.
It’s not only power that needs to be considered when it comes to cooling, it’s water too. Many data centres use evaporative cooling, where a fine mist of water is sprayed onto fabric panels, the ambient heat is absorbed by the water and thus cools the air in the area. It’s a smart idea, but it’s problematic given the additional strain climate change is putting on water resources, especially in urban areas.
E-waste is another rapidly growing environmental issue, with data centres contributing significantly due to hardware refresh cycles every 3-5 years. This constant replacement results in massive amounts of obsolete equipment being discarded, much of which contains harmful substances like lead and mercury. Globally, only about 12.5% of e-waste is recycled, with the rest often ending up in landfills, which is a huge issue.
What can be done today?
To improve energy efficiency across networking and servers in data centres, there needs to be a broad focus on optimising the relationship between hardware and software, virtualisation, smart power management, cooling, and the use of renewable energy sources. In terms of data storage, industry estimates suggest that upwards of 80% of data storage sold annually consists of magnetic hard disk drives (HDDs). These HDDs are relics of the past, greedily absorb vast swathes of energy which could be better spent elsewhere. Flash storage, the same technology used in smartphones and laptops, stands out as an effective solution. Going one step further than the flash found in smartphones, some vendors are leveraging “raw” flash to build their flash arrays, rather than relying on buying commodity SSDs, which talk to their flash drives in essentially the same way they would a legacy hard drive. This maximises the capabilities of flash and provides better performance, power utilisation, and efficiency. With this kind of flash, organisations can reduce their storage-related energy, space, and administrative requirements by up to 95% compared to HDD solutions.
Sustainability critical to digital future
The sustainability challenges facing our planet are growing more pressing. While renewable energy is a critical part of the solution, adopting the most energy-efficient technologies also plays a significant role. By transitioning to more sustainable solutions, we can significantly reduce energy consumption and help preserve the environment. Protecting and sustaining the planet is an ongoing responsibility, and it’s time to act. Sustainability and progress can go hand in hand, as long as the right technology choices are made today.
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Author’s Bio
Fred Lherault is a CTO across the EMEA region at Pure Storage. He helps guide customer adoption of Pure’s technology, design new software features and liaises between customers with Pure’s engineering team. Fred has worked at Pure since 2012. His keen interest in emerging technologies enables him to advise organisations how to adopt new strategic initiatives in the ever-changing world of IT. Prior to Pure Storage, Fred held Systems Engineering positions at 3PAR and HP. In his spare time, Fred enjoys cycling in and around London and visiting museums.
