Wind and hydro aren ’ t the only sources of “ green power ” that Schedin notes aren ’ t as sustainable as they seem . “ There are places like Iceland , which use a lot of geothermal power . And geothermal emits no carbon . It emits a lot of methane , which is much , much worse ,” he says . “ Geothermal is actually a really dirty energy source that might be as bad as coal . It ' s billed as a renewable power source , but in places like Turkey and Indonesia it ' s generating as many greenhouse gases as coal . Even in Iceland , where it ' s a little better , they ' ve only managed to get the equivalent embedded carbon down to about 40-50 g / kWh , but that ' s still 10 times more than nuclear power .”
In an industry where conversations about sustainability are only going to get harder , Schedin stresses that “ the kind of rhetoric that calls generation methods like geothermal renewable , and calls a data centre ' climate neutral ' makes life a bit too easy . You need to dig deeper .”
As Scope 3 emissions become a bigger part of the conversation , and the data centre industry ’ s customers place genuine sustainability at the core of their business models , it feels like the industry is on track for a reckoning . “ These truths need to be disclosed . Emissions need to be examined transparently , and knowledge needs to be shared so that the industry as a whole can build the most efficient data centres that it can , wherever those sites are located ,” Schedin reflects . “ Renewable power comes with embedded carbon . No one can argue with that statement , but still we have companies out there in the industry claiming to be 100 % climate neutral . The market and the industry may not be ready for these difficult conversations , but the customers are ready for it , and I think that will drive some serious changes quickly .”
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