Growing concern about the effects of climate change has placed much pressure on the data centre and digital infrastructure sectors. Today data centres are predicted to account for around 1%-2% of global electricity consumption and emit the same level of carbon as the airline sector.
Unsurprisingly, given their importance to the digital economy, the industry is coming under closer scrutiny, not only because of the growing demands it places on power generation and energy consumption, but because of its influence on other areas that affect environmental sustainability. Those which include the appropriation of land and water, the use of renewable energy, and the disposal of hazardous waste material.
Forces influencing the move toward sustainable data centres include a combination of government regulations, the demands of customers and investors, as well as a growing understanding that by leading on sustainability it is interlinked by our desire to grow. For...