With the rapid growth of AI and cloud computing in the UK comes an increased demand for data centers.

This growth, however, is placing increased pressure on operators to tackle sustainability challenges, most notably power and water consumption, e-waste, and issues associated with the technology supply chain.

In fact, like all buildings, data centers incur a carbon debt before they’re even active. Construction itself results in a relatively minor but still notable set of emissions and, according to Paul Lin of Schneider Electric, construction can account for 6.6 percent of a building’s scope 3 emissions.

But the impact can be broader: although some sites are established in ‘brownfield’ or disused areas, others remove existing green areas to build data centers, potentially harming the local environment.

As we know, data centers currently consume around one percent of the world’s energy supply and are responsible for one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Furthermore, water is a crucial part of cooling electronic components in most data centers, even if they’re not primarily water-cooled (i.e. if they mainly use fans rather than water-based heat sinks).

Today’s ‘hot’ topic: AI

Added to this, any reflection on data center energy consumption would be remiss not to mention AI. And of course, although AI can help us to better analyze, understand, and reduce our impact on the environment, it also comes with its own problems.

AI workloads are resource-intensive, consuming large amounts of water in comparison to traditional computing tasks. A standard online search will consume the equivalent of half a milliliter of water, whereas an AI-augmented search will consume fifty times more. This pattern is repeated for power – a standard online search uses around a third of a watt-hour of power; an AI-augmented one uses almost three watt-hours.

It's obviously worth noting that this usage isn’t intrinsically bad. A reasonable amount of this power is later released as heat, and organizations can do useful things with this, like heating local swimming pools or nearby buildings.

Similarly, the water used for cooling and other functions doesn’t disappear – but its evaporation can mean changes to the ecosystem, and it may not return to the same watershed, potentially changing local environments.

A holistic approach to sustainability challenges

Data center operators should manage these pressures by adopting a holistic approach to planning and development. It’s important to consider measures such as power usage effectiveness (PUE) and water usage effectiveness (WUE) to make systems as efficient as possible, as well as considering the entire supply chain, from the sourcing of components to the disposal and recycling of outdated hardware.

One key strategy is the repurposing of existing buildings as data centers. Rather than constructing new facilities, the industry can retrofit old industrial sites. This approach not only reduces the carbon footprint associated with new construction but also takes advantage of existing infrastructure, which can often be adapted to meet the needs of modern data centers.

Creative approaches to sustainability challenges

Organizations should consider each link in the chain when it comes to sustainability, looking at every possible avenue for improving efficiency and re-using materials. For example, historically, data centers relied on diesel-powered backup generators. It’s now possible to use alternatives, for example HVO.

HVO100 fuel is a 100 percent hydrotreated vegetable oil, made from waste cooking oil. Although this is still a form of diesel fuel, it reduces overall emissions by 90 percent throughout the fuel’s lifecycle, compared to traditional diesel.

Many data center operators are also looking at vertical integration, assembling and disassembling servers, recycling and re-using components where possible to minimize unnecessary purchases and offer more cost-effective, lower-performance server lines to organizations.

Furthermore, there are a number of very smart startups helping to tackle tougher recycling challenges like recycling motherboards. The likes of TerraNova Industries are using methods like electrolysis to separate valuable metals from e-waste, not only reducing waste but also generating revenue streams from the sale of these metals.

Every link in the chain, under the microscope

Although some of the solutions mentioned above might seem creative, they originate from putting sustainability at the heart of organizational philosophy.

A solid approach to sustainability rigorously looks at each step in every process and considers how they can be made more efficient, or how they can consume less water or power, or use greener energy sources. As the old saying goes, success is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration!

At the end of the day, technology – like all human endeavors – will always have some ecological footprint. The important thing is to ensure that we’re constantly finding ways of making sure that we can answer the needs of today without compromising the world of tomorrow.

The future of the industry requires a balance of innovation and sustainability to ensure the data center industry can keep up with global demand whilst also remaining resilient and environmentally responsible.