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Aurecon

Matt Gurr, Industry Leader – Data Centres

Carbon Neutral Data Centres

Matt Gurr

Ask yourself a simple question, how many times in the last day have you used a data service? It might have been watching an episode of your favourite show on Netflix, glancing up at the digital bus timetable display on your way to work, listening to music, checking your e-mail, or even a good “old fashioned” web search. For myself, I would struggle to count the number of times that I have used any of the network enabled devices that I carry with me, or that populate my home and workplace.

It’s unarguable that for most of us the use of data driven services has become ubiquitous and almost invisible. The benefits of this are undeniable in terms of efficiency in our daily lives, and in our ability to stay interconnected and linked to the people and services that are important to us. Covid-19 has only increased the reliance that we have on our data services with video calls experiencing a massive boost as we struggle to stay connected with friends and colleagues. Indeed, these services have become the digital glue that is binding our society together.

While we are currently enjoying this data-party guilt-free, there is a hangover waiting for us just around the corner. Very few people are aware of the huge infrastructure that underpins the internet and all the data services that we enjoy, and that in many cases are crucial to the functioning of our modern society. As this industrial scale infrastructure grows, through the development of ever larger and more power hungry data centres, the low public awareness of our industry will come under increasing scrutiny and challenge. In an age where climate advocacy is growing rapidly and consumers and investors are becoming strongly aware of the power of social licence, it is essential as an industry that we pivot to match society’s expectations of businesses.

As This Industrial Scale Infrastructure Grows, Through The Development Of Ever Larger And More Power Hungry Data Centres, The Low Public Awareness Of Our Industry Will Come Under Increasing Scrutiny And Challenge

While those of us that have been in the data centre industry for a while can be rightfully proud of the huge strides that we’ve taken to increase the efficiency of every facility, we cannot sit back and rest on our laurels. It is essential that we keep pushing forward and keep taking the next small step. When we have already spent a decade optimising, consolidating, and squeezing for efficiencies, where do we look next to avoid diminishing returns on time and money invested? In 2019 software giant Atlassian took a huge social leap and announced that they were going to make a corporate stand against climate change. Starting with power, they will be offsetting their emissions with renewable energy alongside efficiency improvements. This, however, is just the start as they are committing to a fully carbon neutral future. What does this mean in reality? All of their suppliers will need to be committed to carbon neutral operations, and for a software company, that’s going to need a dedicated data centre partner willing to be a part of that vision.

Atlassian is at the forefront of the carbon neutral wave, but getting ahead of it will be essential for any operator in any market. How long will it be, before every government contract in the world requires a carbon neutral accreditation, or investors turn away from backing risky high carbon developments?

While purchasing carbon offsets is the easy and immediate answer for a data centre, is it really the only answer? Are there other options that we need to start considering? Which are the areas that could have a huge positive impact on the carbon footprint of a data centre?

While power consumption is the elephant in the room, what about the diesel for our generators, the packaging from our servers, the concrete in our buildings, and the refrigerant in our cooling systems? Once you start to look at every part of the design and operation of a data centre with a critical eye, it becomes clear that we still have lots of places that we can make a difference, which in turn helps the users of these information factories. As with all changes, we can either wait for government regulation to drive an onerous and slow moving change, or we can push the industry forward at a greater pace, recognise the demand from businesses and consumers that is coming towards us, and find new ways to achieve a zero carbon future. For an industry that thrives on the leading edge, it’s only fitting that we take ourselves along that cutting edge pathway.

The articles from these contributors are based on their personal expertise and viewpoints, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of their employers or affiliated organizations.