Delivering long-term data centre sustainability

Ever-increasing global demand for digital services and data continues to drive strong data centre growth. A March 2023 Research and Markets report¹ forecasts the data centre construction market is set to reach US$ 80.7 billion by 2028, with a CAGR of 7.81% from 2022–2028.

This growth creates sustainability challenges for a sector that consumes large amounts of power and material resources. Data centres currently account for between 1 and 1.5% of global energy consumption, and this is projected to rise to 8% by 2030².

Data centres rely on water for cooling, and water is becoming a scarce resource in many parts of the world. Supplies of the materials used in IT infrastructure are finite, and, in some cases, such as rare metals, are becoming harder to source in the required quantities.

In the long term, innovations in data storage technology and advances in areas such as quantum computing may enable data centres to deliver more storage and compute power in a smaller footprint, but for now, data centre sustainability is a key priority. In this article, we consider the key priorities for delivering data centre sustainability, and the steps being taken to meet them.

There are a number of clear priority areas where data centres can improve sustainability and reduce their environmental footprint.

The greatest reduction in data centre CO2 emissions will come as national power suppliers migrate to renewable power sources. However, according to the UN³, only around 29% of the world's electricity came from renewables at the start of the 2020s, so there is still some way to go on this journey.

In the meantime, providers throughout the data centre value chain are looking to achieve energy performance efficiencies in how IT, cooling and other powered infrastructure is used in the data centre. Minimising power consumption in data centre components, regardless of the power source, makes good sense both economically and environmentally.

Combining the move to renewables with a constant focus on maximising power efficiency is helping data centres work towards the industry goal of Net Zero by 2030. 

With water becoming a scarce resource, data centre water consumption comes under increasing scrutiny, particularly for data centres in those parts of the world where there are shortages. The goal is not just to minimise data centre water consumption, but to replenish more water than the data centre uses to become water-positive.

Microsoft⁴, AWS⁵ and Google⁶ are amongst those who have announced targets to be water-positive by 2030.

The materials and processes used in building and equipping data centres offer further scope to minimise the environmental impact and maximise sustainability.

Sustainability can be designed in at each stage, from the choice of raw materials, to manufacturing methods that minimise waste, to components that are designed to support the trend towards circular economies by enabling repair or refurbishment over longer periods, and recycling at end of life.

Partners across the data centre value chain can contribute to the sector, delivering on sustainability through innovations such as: 

• More power-efficient and reliable processors. Higher processing components have a need for effective and efficient component cooling, and overheating can lead to component failures. Improved board-level component cooling using new designs and materials can deliver more power-efficient and reliable solutions.
• Purifying non-potable wastewater or seawater for cooling, and switching to alternatives to water-based cooling where feasible, to enable water positivity.
• Focusing on sustainability in all aspects of component production, using materials and processes that maximise product life, minimise the environmental impacts of production, and facilitate reuse and recycling at end of life.

Henkel's expertise in materials solutions, our long pedigree of innovation and collaboration across key industry sectors, and our commitment to sustainability, positions us ideally to work with OEMs and providers in delivering a sustainable future for data centres.

Delivering long-term sustainability in the data centre environment requires a process of continual innovation and collaboration across the value chain. Here at Henkel, we are excited to contribute our expertise in materials technologies to that process. Reach out to me on LinkedIn, where I'll be glad to continue the conversation.