THE DATA CENTRE INTERVIEW
“SUSTAINABILITY WILL ONLY BE ACHIEVABLE IF IT IS BUILT INTO HOW DATA CENTRES ARE DESIGNED, OPERATED AND UPGRADED”
James Pennington, Global Sustainability Services Director, Lenovo
Lenovo Neptune warm water cooling delivers energy reductions Physical efficiency interventions vary by facility, but cooling represents a significant opportunity. In many data centres, cooling uses a significant amount of energy and as much as one third can be used to drive fans in the servers alone. As rack power density grows, liquid cooling is becoming standard practice.
James says Lenovo’ s Neptune technology uses warm water cooling to drive measurable reductions in energy use.“ In suitable environments, Neptune can reduce energy by up to 40 % and removes the need to chill water,” he says.
Neptune-enabled supercomputers have been ranked highly in the Green500 and Top500 lists, delivering high-density computing while reducing facility power use. James notes that warm water cooling has become necessary as traditional air cooling can no longer match the power demands of dense AI and HPC systems. With no need for chillers and easy integration, such systems support energy efficiency targets and long-term emissions reduction.
The technology takes a step further than standard liquid cooling because fluids are more efficient than air at removing heat. James says Lenovo consultants can add value to customer decisions because there is no onesize-fits-all design, with many factors to consider, including the load being generated by the IT equipment.
26 March 2026