Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

Written by: Izzat Najmi, Journalist, AOPG.

Over the last decade, there has been a rise in environmental stewardship as a topic of international concern. Governments and corporations have responded to public concerns about pollution by adopting greener policies and practices. In the middle of this, the ICT industry is rapidly expanding.

A quick Internet search will reveal that there are millions of data centres all around the world. Power-hungry data centres can house tens of thousands of servers, which can cause them to consume more energy and natural resources than some nations. On top of that, the rise of cloud computing has undoubtedly brought about the inevitable need for more “hyperscale” data centres all over the world. The energy usage of these massive data centres has doubled in only a few years, with the largest ones consuming up to 100 terawatt-hours annually. Hyperscalers keeps thousands of servers online at all times of day, every day of the year. With the proliferation of new “edge” data centres, energy usage is expected to rise even further.

The question is, is there a downside to our increasing reliance on data centres and what is its toll on the environment?

Data Centres’ Blow Towards the Environment

In the years following 2011, when the media and activist outlets started paying attention to data centres and their environmental impacts, tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Google faced increasing pressure to improve their data centre power efficiency. Because a reduction in power use directly correlates to monetary savings, many businesses were already striving for efficiency.

A data centre’s impact on the environment is not limited to the consumption of fossil fuels or greenhouse gas emissions. Many other factors can have an adverse effect on Earth because of the complexity of these systems and the architecture that was developed to allow them to run non-stop all year long.

Here are eight areas of the data centre that carry potential negative effects on the environment.

• Batteries
  Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems in data centres necessitate some rather massive batteries that kick in when power fluctuations or outages occur, keeping systems active for minutes to hours. The average lifespan of these batteries is a couple of years, maxing out at ten years for the most extreme cases. Since most of them are lead-acid, hazardous mining and working circumstances are common throughout their production. Data centres rarely use nickel-metal hydride batteries since they do not contain heavy metals.When the time comes, these big units need to be disposed of properly, just like regular AA batteries do. UPS battery recycling services can be found at a variety of businesses. It is estimated that in the United States, recycled batteries account for 80% of lead production.

  The overall building’s energy efficiency might be enhanced or diminished by the UPS system.

• Coolant
  Data centres need coolant for CRAC units if they are not in an ideal location for free cooling or indirect evaporative chillers (which essentially filter outside air through water and circulate it throughout the data centre floor, exchanging heat practically directly with the outside or use air conditioning to lessen the heat). Liquid cooling, which can be more efficient, is another option but does require chemicals as a coolant.Most commonly used as a coolant are Freon/halocarbon or chlorofluorocarbons, which range in toxicity from low to high and are known to contribute to ozone depletion. The ozone layer is less vulnerable to the effects of modern materials. The most widely used refrigerant today, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), have no Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) but high Global Warming Potential (GWP) because they act as heat traps in the atmosphere.

• Cleaning Materials
  The efficiency and upkeep of data centres depend on their cleanliness. The accumulation of dust is a serious threat to any electronic device. When cleaning, technicians must be careful to prevent static discharge by only utilising static-safe products. This has led to the development of numerous specialised cleaning solutions, many of which, as you might expect, are highly poisonous. Cleansing chemicals for water systems may include chlorine, ammonia, or bleach.

• Diesel Fuel
  It is no secret that data centres are big consumers of diesel. Unused fuel in generators should be burned off on a regular basis because it turns bad if stored for too long. In addition, the systems need to be run for a moderately long time at least once every quarter to ensure they are functioning correctly. Even at smaller data centres, these generators are enormous, with the capacity to produce many megawatts.In Cheyenne, Wyoming alone in 2014, Green House Data burned through 6,347 gallons of diesel fuel. That is the equivalent of almost 64,000 kilograms of CO2. As battery technology races to meet our enormous electrical demands, it is currently an inescapable expense of operating within the sector.
• Electronic Waste
  Even if we didn’t have to keep up with performance needs, the lifespan of computing equipment is still finite. Replace your server or desktop computer every three to five years; that’s the general rule of thumb in the IT industry. In addition to the need for updates, issues such as broken hard drives, cracked monitors, etc., arise. As an example, the chemicals included in computers might be detrimental if they are merely placed in a landfill. As with any business, it is the responsibility of data centres to reuse, refurbish, and resell or recycle any unused or unwanted hardware. Particularly damaging is the transportation component of offshore disposal.
• Fire Suppression
  Your data must always stay secure with your provider; therefore, any data centre worth its salt will have rapid and thorough fire suppression measures. Remember, we’re working with live wires here. Firefighting chemicals are not always the safest for nature. There is a risk of exposure to these chemicals, and they may even enter the water supply through storm drains. On the other hand, there is evidence from a small number of studies that the results of a major fire can be far more dangerous than the chemicals used to put out the blaze.
• Packaging
  Electronic waste typically coexists with general garbage and/or cardboard boxes that can be recycled. Transporting equipment and supplies to and from data centres is a common need for both customers and data centre operations staff. The annual volume of packages handled by a major data centre is literally in the tens of thousands. Sustainable packaging built entirely from recycled materials or alternative materials is something that some firms, including Dell, are beginning to investigate. We need to recycle everything we can, from cardboard to plastic bags.
• Office Areas
  Last but not least, there are pollutants and waste products associated with normal office life. Any electronic device, any type of packaging, any means of transportation to and from work, any water used in the kitchen or bathrooms, and any other domestic source could be considered a potential source of pollution. The mercury used in fluorescent light bulbs is one example of the dangerous substances found in some office products.

With all of the negative implications that data centres bring to the environment, as a whole, it does not paint the rosiest of pictures for the data centre sector. However, progress may be achieved in each of these areas by adopting a strategy of reducing, reusing, and recycling across the board and reducing the use of dangerous chemicals wherever possible, conducting only as much testing as is necessary to provide service, and so on. Because of worldwide agreements and national legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming causes, it is likely that we will see a decline in the use of toxic chemicals throughout data centres as new technology and products become available.

Can Something Be Done to Make It Less Damaging?

Despite these “downsides,” all is not lost. Data centres are a product of the information era; without them, neither the Internet nor the concept of the cloud would have been able to take off. Data centres have been around for a long time, and while their designs and operational methods have evolved rapidly, they were first developed when sustainability was not a top priority. Nonetheless, businesses in recent years have placed a premium on reducing their carbon footprints as a result of rising awareness of this issue.

One particular way businesses are doing this is by moving more of their operations to “green data centres,” or data centres built with environmental consciousness. In today’s modern data centres, renewable energy sources, energy-efficient cooling, LED lighting systems, and recycled or recyclable materials are all standard practices. Tenants in data centres further the data centre industry’s commitment to sustainability by employing ever-more-efficient IT gear and server virtualisation. The emergence of independent certifiers like LEED and the Green Grid provides more weight to these initiatives. Green data centres have a higher up-front cost but a far higher Return On Investment (ROI) in the long run as the cost of electricity and consumer awareness both rise.

Some of the advantages accrued to companies when they opt for a green data centre are:

• Savings on utility bills since green data centres consume less power than conventional ones.
• Businesses can lessen their impact on the environment with the aid of green data centres by reducing their carbon footprint through the use of renewable energy sources and smart energy usage.
• Corporate sustainability: A dedication to sustainability can help businesses gain the trust of their consumers and employees.
• Leadership in sustainability promotion: Businesses can set an example by opting for a sustainable data centre.

5 Green Data Centres to Emulate

On a positive note, “green” data centres are now making great strides towards saving the environment as much as possible. Many large global firms are hard at work, creating the benchmark data centre operating models needed to reverse the damages caused by data centres. And to be used as examples by other businesses planning their own massive data centre projects.

In light of the adage that “seeing is believing,” I set out to identify five data centres and co-location facilities that stand out for their environmentally conscious practices on cooling and energy use. Are there any others far better than the ones on this list? There might be but these are merely to give insights into the efforts being taken by organisations that are setting the pace for others to follow.

• Apple
  A departure from its usual ultra-secretive nature, Apple has openly stated its intention to use only renewable energy sources to power its operations. These sources will include the sun, wind, water, and even geothermal heat. Some of the company’s cloud services are powered by its data centre in Maiden, North Carolina, which exemplifies this strategy. To begin, it appears to be the industry’s largest LEED Platinum facility. The property currently has a 100-acre, 20-megawatt solar array that can generate an estimated 42 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power per year, and its twin should be operational on adjoining acreage by the end of this year. The building also makes use of high-efficiency LED lighting coupled with motion sensors and a chilled water energy storage technology that, in combination with the building’s free access to outdoor air cooling, allows the chillers to be turned off for more than 75% of the time. Apple is actively building eco-friendly data centres in Nevada and Oregon.

• eBay
  Even though the Arizona desert can reach temperatures of 119 degrees Fahrenheit, the so-called “Project Mercury” uses free cooling for its computer equipment all year long. The online retailer was able to do this by using a modular server design that required only a few, highly energy-efficient server models. However, the company’s flagship “Topaz” data centre in Utah has even more impressive ecological credentials, having been certified as LEED Gold in 2010. The business has since installed a 665-kW solar array on its roof, covering 72,000 square feet and generating 924,013 kWh annually. eBay is now meeting around 11% of its overall U.S. data centre electricity demand with renewable energy, thanks to that investment and other solar and fuel cell installations.

• Meta
  The newest data centre for the social media behemoth is located in the Arctic Circle region, where the cool Nordic air may be used in conjunction with the more conventional water-cooling methods. Meta (previously known as Facebook) claims it has been able to cut the number of backup generators at the site by 70% thanks to the reliability of the hydroelectricity generated locally. All of the server hardware was built using Open Compute Project blueprints. The overall PUE (Efficiency of Power Use) is 1.07. The PUE ratio evaluates the efficiency of a data centre’s cooling system in relation to the energy consumed by its IT systems. As a rule of thumb, a ratio of 1 is considered ideal.

• Google
  Google’s data centres, on average, have a PUE of 1.14, consuming 50% less energy than similar facilities. It is worth noting that the company recycles all of the electrical equipment it replaces, as part of a project to improve e-waste management in data centres that was launched by the Green Grid in June 2013. In terms of technological innovation, Google’s Hamina, Finland, data centre stands out as a pioneer in the field because of its use of seawater cooling. A 60-year-old paper mill was the site’s inspiration for its current incarnation.

• Microsoft
  Microsoft, like most other tech behemoths, is investing heavily in learning about and perfecting methods for creating data centres that minimise energy use. However, its Wyoming project is unique, as it is testing the use of biogas from a wastewater treatment facility as a power source in collaboration with fuel cell technology vendor FuelCell Energy. In addition to AT&T and eBay, several other companies are switching to fuel cells as a greener alternative power source for their server farms.

Go Green or Go Home

As the cost of renewable energy continues to decrease, more and more data centre providers are expected to make the switch. However, businesses cannot wait for these changes, as it is estimated that over a third of all consumers throughout the world would be willing to pay more for sustainable options as the demand for these products rises.

Green data centres enable organisations to improve productivity and reduce their impact on the environment. The most financially and environmentally responsible option for any business, no matter its size, is to use a green data centre.

Nevertheless, despite the rising publicity around how green data centres are “saving the world”, there is opinion coming from outside of the industry, stating otherwise. To find out more, stay tuned for a follow-up article entitled, “Are Green Data Centres Reliable or Just Hype?”

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