“ Data centres in city centres in the middle of Europe – where land is expensive and power is scarce – is not the way forward for the data centre industry if it wants to move itself towards a more sustainable future ,” advises Mattias Fridström , the Vice President & Chief Evangelist at Arelion .
Innovative energy reduction , by redirecting energy wastage Obviously , reducing energy usage is another key factor . But , amidst the sector ’ s rapid expansion , this initially seems unrealistic .
But , pioneering data centres have found a way to redirect heat or energy , which would otherwise have been completely wasted , to another purpose .
“ Many different solutions based on heat recovery are appearing ,” advises Fridström .
Schneider Electric currently holds the status of the world ’ s most sustainable company . Alongside its sustainability consulting services , Schneider has also developed the EcoStruxure™ IT DCIM software , which provides tenants with complete transparency and real-time visibility , through a tenant portal .
For instance , “ instead of wasting the heat through the roof , you can re-enter the heat into the local energy company ’ s system , thus heating up enterprise offices or private apartments within close proximity of the data centre ”.
Echelon is another prime example of this concept , with its DUB20 site currently using wasted heat to dry natural material so that it can be used for agricultural fertiliser .
Achieving a ‘ water positive ’ status In 2021 , Microsoft was forced to pull back on its plans to create a data centre based in the Netherlands , following
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