Sustainable Data Centres: Powering Tomorrow Without Costing the Earth

Just one large AI model can emit as much carbon as five cars over their lifetimes

Having witnessed both professionally and personally the meteoric rise of cryptocurrency, cloud computing and artificial intelligence one trend has become unmistakably clear: the insatiable demand for energy.

At the heart of this digital revolution lies the data centre. These facilities are the silent engines that most people (including myself) have never seen in person but power our online lives on a daily basis accounting for an  estimated 1% to 1.8% of global energy consumption

While data centres and the firms that oversee them are often targeted as major energy polluters in mainstream media, the narrative is changing.

Now embedded in this space it's been refreshing and dare I say vital to witness the growing wave of innovation and accountability happening around the world. Significant consumer and internal demand is driving new focus to establish and innovate a global sustainable data centre infrastructure that helps build a green backbone for a digital first world. 

Take the United States as a leading example. Long recognised as a tech powerhouse, it’s now also establishing itself as a pioneer in sustainable data centre practices. Collectively, U.S data centre firms have purchased over 45 gigawatts of global renewable energy, fuelling a dramatic increase in clean-powered facilities. In fact, this surge has led to more than a 50% rise in U.S. data centres powered by wind and solar energy.

Nowhere is this more evident than Northern Virginia, a recognised national central hub for data centres now having nearly 50 million square feet of data centre space powered by renewable sources. 

Closer to my home on the other side of the pond; Scotland is another good country to highlight the ambition and complexity  companies need to overcome in this space. Blessed with a cool year round climate, remoteness and availability of land, strong renewable energy industry and positive government policy on paper it would have all the trappings to become a global data centre hub. That said some of these positives work against it with London accounting for 80 % of existing  co-location data centre supply with little to no incentive for providers to move already established hubs at considerable financial cost. 

Additionally Scotland’s distance from end users in other parts of the UK and Europe could create latency issues which in industries like mobile gaming and high frequency financial trading are deal breakers. Overcoming these challenges will require continued investment in high speed connectivity and strategic placement of data centres to balance energy efficiency with customer needs. 

The good news is work is underway to address these challenges and it’s not a moment too soon. As AI becomes more embedded in our everyday lives, the carbon footprint of data infrastructure is under greater scrutiny than ever.

The direction of travel is promising; With the race towards net-zero continuing  innovation within the  sustainable data centre infrastructure is not only underway it's gaining momentum. 

That said it should not come with complacency with continued investment in this sector critical to ensuring that our growing demand for digital services doesn’t come at the expense of our planet.

At HLA Talent, we believe in building teams that reflect the world we want to live in. Supporting innovators and industry disrupters that are driving the rise and growth in sustainable data centre infrastructure has a clear sense of purpose and will help build a better tomorrow 

Want to Join the Movement?

Whether you're scaling a sustainable venture or looking to align your career with the climate tech transition, HLA Talent is here to help; reach out via our contact forms and we’ll be in touch