When we talk about greening the industry, it would be foolish to fail to acknowledge that green comes in different shades. From light green to the goal of dark-green, where our technology and emissions are truly climate and carbon neutral.

But where is the data center industry, currently? The reality is that we are still a color wheel, like the sort you get from Homebase. There are shades of green, blue, and even in some areas brown, and it varies from company to company.

At our DCD>Connect London event, we hosted a panel to discuss this very issue – is the data center industry doing enough to fight against climate change? The answer is nuanced, and the consequences should not be taken lightly.

Fabien Vieau, Regional Director of Data Center, Energy & Sustainability for Google, representing a huge player in the industry, warns against unwarranted optimism.

“We are congratulating ourselves. We're talking about a 2030 which we have not delivered yet. It won’t be achieved just because we've mentioned it. And even today, we don't believe we can do it. Because the technology is not ready.

“When we're talking about 24/7 carbon-free energy, there is a first part that is manageable, and in some grids is already existing, but the last bit is going to be extremely difficult and without a hydrogen beaker, which doesn't exist today, won't be feasible.”

The reality is that it is very easy to discuss all the strides the industry takes towards a greener future. Technology that is ‘in development’ and greener alternatives that are already in use, but not widely distributed. There needs to be a standard that all companies and facilities meet, rather than individualized goals that are not enough to enforce real change.

“We need to agree on the metrics, we need to align the metrics with the EU Commission, and the commission is really asking us to do more. We try to demonstrate to them that we're doing a lot already but we agree with them, or I agree with them, that we have to do more.”

This sentiment is mirrored by Rob McKernan, Senior Vice President for Europe and Global IT Channels at Schneider Electric.

“For me, we could get a false sense of feeling good with this panel, because there are a couple of companies here that are on the cutting edge of this sustainability. But most customers are not even measuring their operation effectively enough in the output from a scope-one perspective. We're at that point in many parts of the world. We have to start there, but how do we measure it? And how do we get our clients up to the levels of Equinix?

“At Schneider Electric, we want to help them on the procurement side. First, because we think if you can procure green sources, that's going to help all the measurements. But that's quite difficult right now in terms of if you look at the percentage of data centers and what energy they're procuring, it's quite low.

“We're doing a great job of designing data centers for energy efficiency, but then in the operational part of half of that, that's where things fall down tremendously. Most companies aren't operating and measuring what that output is, from a scope-one and scope-two perspective.”

The question is perhaps not just how to get somewhere, but what motivates a company to take on the green premium and really change their processes. Equinix, according to Michael Winterson, Managing Director, needed a turning point to start that shift.

“For us, it [greening the company] was such a large portion of our operating cost, that it truly scared the pants off our CFO. Even our investor relations person was asking, how do we market this? How do we tell our investors that we're going to be spending yet more capital capturing, and yet more objects capturing all of our emissions over the next 10 years?

“The company's epiphany was that, in a sense, we felt we’d been greenwashing for several years by doing what was necessary. We're a publicly-traded company, we've got to manage costs, we've got to manage profitability. Something happened about a year ago, where it's now becoming important, in fact, critical for our customers as well. They're taking it much more seriously. Though we may not be as far down the road as Google is, we're going in that direction and we are constantly being challenged. Is it enough? Is it light green? Or is it a real dark green?

“Another big epiphany last year was how easy it was for all of us as competitors, customers, and suppliers to get behind the Climate Neutral data center pact. The work that Google put in and others put in, has been phenomenal. It also shows that the industry is saying, “bring it on, we can do this.”

“The color is such an important point. Is it blue, is it light green, or is it green? We're just now starting to measure carbon embodied in our water and our buildings, as well as the basic operation of our business, and setting out targets. Targets that are not aggressive enough, and we know that.

“We're going to continually try to tweak them harder and harder every year. But it's a start, and it gets us to 2030 at a point where we can say we're dark green, and Climate Neutral. We also know that by 2030, there's going to be a new bar set, and we're going to have to aim for that bar.”

When it comes down to doing something, Stephen Byrne, Development Manager for Mercury Engineering, sums up the importance of immediacy.

“From a construction perspective, from talking to our customers, our supply chain, and our own employees, I think the key message for us is that we have to act now. I mean, we're talking about this decade. It's not just a point in time that we have to reach and everything will be okay, we have to act.”

Is the data center industry doing enough? As of now, probably not. But over the next decade, real change should be taking place towards climate neutrality and a dark green industry.

Watch the full panel below.