In 2023, there are millions of data centres throughout the world. These facilities are essential in the internet age, acting as the brains that process and store all the information that we rely on in everyday life, from cloud computing and online banking, to streaming platforms and social media. With more people than ever now working remotely, the cloud has reached new levels of importance, however, data centres certainly have a dark side.
As the number of data centres grow, so does their carbon footprint and impact on the environment. Every data centre is extremely power hungry, with as many servers as possible packed into a space and operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In addition to requiring so much electricity to function effectively, servers also generate huge amounts of heat, so in order to prevent failure due to overheating, intelligent cooling systems are also required, which in turn require further resources. In recent years, in environments where there have been water shortages, large data centres have continued to use huge volumes of water in their cooling systems.
Whilst data centres can rely on renewable energy to a certain extent, due to the massive amount of resources required in the internet age, other energy sources must also be relied upon, leading to huge emissions. In order to combat their huge environmental impact, data centre providers around the world are now seeking ways to increase sustainability, reduce their carbon footprint and cut out waste energy.
Natural Cooling
In recent years, there have been various projects working to find natural data centre cooling solutions to cut down energy use, including locating them in naturally cold climates and conditions.
Microsoft launched Project Natick, deploying a data centre cylinder deep underwater, off the pacific coast of the United States. For phase 2 of the project, the Northern Isles data centre was deployed to the seafloor near the Orkney Isles, 117 ft below sea level. In these cold waters, it was possible to use renewable heat-exchange processes to provide cooling for servers, with seawater piped through radiators at the backs of the server racks, and then back out into the ocean. The results of the project found that data centres can operate efficiently in cold water conditions, with failure rate considerably lower than on land as a result of effective sustainable cooler systems and lack of disturbance from humans.
Following Project Natick, in 2021, a four-rack test vessel data centre was launched at the port of Guangdong by Chinese company, Beijing Highlander. Later in the same year, the servers were used to run live China Telecom data. Following this initial test, a larger data centre was then deployed underwater at Hainan Free Trade Port and plans for the world’s very first commercial underwater data centre was announced. Chinese coastal regions are quickly committing to the concept of underwater data centres, with several local authorities including this in their economic plans.
Using Waste Heat
Another way that data centres are seeking to be more sustainable is to make use of the waste heat generated by servers. Whilst they will continue to require large volumes of resources, data centres also have the potential to deliver valuable energy from heat that would otherwise be wasted.
As energy bills soar, data centre generated heat is being put to valuable use in a range of projects, proving that there is much wider scope to benefit from the excessive heat generated by server stacks every day. In fact, studies have estimated that heat from data centres and other major appliances could be used to power the majority of Europe if utilised effectively.
One initiative to make use of waste heat is a project in Devon, where a data centre the size of a washing machine is being used to generate heat to warm a public swimming pool. This facility uses a process where heat from the servers is captured by oil that surrounds them, and then pumped through a heat exchanger in order to heat the pool up to a comfortable 30 degrees celsius. This technology has the potential to be used at all public swimming pools, helping companies switch to cleaner, more renewable computing services.
Whilst this swimming pool project is quite new, the concept of recycling excess data centre heat has been around for over a decade. In 2010, a data centre was installed in caves beneath a Cathedral in Helsinki and the water warmed in the process of cooling the servers was used to heat hundreds of homes in the city via Helsinki’s district heating centre.
For countries where district heating is well established, there is huge potential for utilising data centre waste heat. This said, this concept is also well suited for smaller scale heating, as has been proven not only by the Devon swimming pool project discussed above, but also through projects like one launched in Ireland in 2021. A district heating system was constructed in Tallaght, South Dublin, allowing for hot water to be supplied by Amazon’s local data centre to heat Technological University Dublin.
The Future of Sustainability in the Data Centres Industry
As governments and authorities around the world look to lower emissions and turn to decarbonisation initiatives, we can expect to see an increase in projects to increase sustainability in the data centres industry. From finding innovative new cooling solutions, to updating infrastructure to prevent heat waste, whilst demand for data centres continues to grow, creating a more sustainable digital age will be a massive challenge, requiring considerable labour from specialist candidates.
OnsiteGroup are highly experienced in supplying labour for data communications clients throughout the UK and Europe. With our extensive knowledge of the data centre sector, we are ideally positioned to match candidates with the ideal job industries in the growing data comms industry. We have worked with some of the leading organisations in data centre construction, including Red Bear Tech, for whom we have supplied more than 50 operatives for data centre and high-end spec ICT projects throughout Europe:
“OnsiteGroup always provides us with professional, highly skilled operatives often at short notice to meet scheduled deadlines. Lewis Deacon and Alice Edge have consistently met every requirement asked of them and ensure that every new operative arrives on site with the relevant documentation and certifications to meet GC requirements.
OnsiteGroup operatives are hard working and always follow specific site regulations in regards to safe systems of work, permits, and to the occupational health and safety standards that are of the highest priority to Red Bear Tech and to the General Contractors and Clients.
On several occasions, OnsiteGroup operatives have been identified by our GC and Client representatives for their outstanding work ethic and high standards of work throughout the installation process.
For all future works, the OnsiteGroup will continue to be our trusted source for skilled operatives and I would personally not hesitate in recommending Lewis and the team for their professionalism and commitment.”
If you require assistance in finding the right data centre talent to help the industry move forward in a more sustainable fashion, or you are a skilled candidate looking for the right opportunities in the data communications sector, contact OnsiteGroup today.