Data Centre Magazine April 2021 | Page 47

DATA CENTRES

“ The US needs to revamp its infrastructure and stop using fossil fuels to power the digital transformation era ”

SUSANNA KASS ENERGY FELLOW , STANFORD UNIVERSITY
operators are faced with a monumental challenge : meet this demand while also curtailing the environmental impact of one of the planet ’ s most powerintensive industries .
“ The US needs to revamp its infrastructure and stop using fossil fuels to power the digital transformation era ,” says Susanna Kass , a clean energy advocate and energy fellow at Stanford University . “ It is imperative to commit to using renewable energy , to revamp clean
energy infrastructure , and to build a more sustainable future .”
A Big Step in the Right Direction In January of this year , some of the largest data centre operators and leading cloud companies in the industry collectively signed the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact , including Equinix , Digital Realty , Interxion , Google and NTT . In total , 25 companies and 17 associations signed the agreement , making the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact the most significant and sweeping sustainability and climate reform action embarked up in the industry ’ s history .
Signatories to the pact will need to set aggressive targets for reducing carbon emissions between 2025 and 2030 , including , proving energy efficiency with
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