THE AI WORKLOAD DILEMMA
– a key problem for data centres around the world , all of whom have been tasked with being more sustainable . As companies move to increasingly adopt AI , data centres will have to come up with new strategies to curb energy use .
“ Businesses should start by defining a strategy to make sustainable decisions across the entirety of their IT estate to reduce their digital carbon emissions ,” Rajesh says . “ When it comes to AI , measuring and managing the environmental impacts of the technology is key . This can be achieved by creating a baseline using a common set of measures and then monitoring the change associated with the implemented AI models .”
In order to keep emissions down , sustainability must remain a critical focus of the design , construction and operational processes of a data centre .
As AI workloads require an enormous amount of energy , data centre carbon footprint and general awareness of the environmental impact of AI is becoming an increasingly important factor in the data centre industry .
To combat this spike , atNorth ’ s Anna Kristín Pálsdóttir explains : “ The introduction of ESG legislation such as CSRD in the EU and the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) climate disclosure rule in the US , requires mandatory carbon footprint disclosures for many large businesses . This kind of reporting can impact client and investor decision making and has led many companies to prioritise more sustainable alternatives across the board .”
In countries like Ireland , access to power is also a critical consideration . Having access to a sustainable , environmentally-friendly power source is becoming more paramount .
“ The electricity grid does not have enough power available for additional data centres and in others , the cost of power is very expensive ,” Anna adds . “ Both of these factors are motivating businesses to find a sustainable , long term solution .
“ The Nordic countries benefit from an abundance of renewable energy and a stable , low cost power grid which offers a huge advantage over other geographical areas .”