Power will become the single most important factor in data centre operating costs as more space is taken up with IT equipment and overall power consumption rises, a report from consulting firm BroadGroup warns.

At the same time, the report noted that the incidence of carbon concerns has increased since 2006.

BroadGroup said that a number of smaller providers had entered the market with a 'carbon neutral' data centre offering as a form of differentiation.

Data centre companies making the carbon neutral factor a central part of their sales proposition include Evoswitch in The Netherlands and Centrinet's Smart Bunker complex in the UK, the report found.

But the principal concern across all companies surveyed is the soaring cost of energy. The reduction of energy usage and adoption of green policies is now a top priority in the IT environment.

Blade servers, once considered a solution, are typically running at below full capacity with no more than 20 blades being put into a rack owing to cooling limitations.

The survey concluded that it is unlikely that a standard data centre design will be able to improve on the 1.0 unit of power to 0.6 cooling ratio unless there is a change in technology.

However, new types of energy storage and power hold the promise of further efficiency gains once their commercial potential can be proven.