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Governments must manage 'out of control demands' of the internet

Datacentre efficiency, size and reporting varies wildly between countries

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Datacentre efficiency, size and reporting varies wildly between countries

Datacentre power demands - and emissions - are increasing exponentially, and governments must incentivise change

Governments must provide incentives for companies to build more efficient datacentres to limit 'the unsustainable and unchecked growth in internet and online services', new research from the University of Sussex Business School has warned.

Governments should use enabling initiatives and grants to prompt companies to invest in building efficienct, sustainable datacentres rather than relying on older power-hungry facilities - or worse, conducting all of their work on-site using their own servers.

The study, published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, recommends ways for policymakers to limit datacentres' energy demands, such as charging higher peak time rates and emissions tarrifs. They should also provide credits for using renewable power sources, to encourage a switch away from fossil fuels.

Internet and datacentre demand represents about 10 per cent of worldwide electricity demand: a figure expected to at least double over the next decade with new advancements like 5G and artificial intelligence. Datacentre power demand alone is predicted to double every four years, giving them the fastest-growing carbon footprint in the IT sector.

However, there are steps governments can take to limit datacentre carbon emissions. Procurement standards, tax credits and other rebates can incentivise operators to purchase new, efficient equipment. At the same time, planning and infrastructure policy initiatives on both a national and regional scale should anticipate the growth in datacentre footprint and prepare to integrate new facilities into existing heating networks - using excess heat as a recycled power source.

After studying datacentres in Greenland, Iceland and Norway (popular locations for datacentres due to access to inexpensive energy, Arctic temperatures to cool hot computers, stable governments, and tax incentives), the researchers found many missed opportunities to increase efficiency, especially around heat reclamation. Only a quarter of the datacentres surveyed in Norway documented any such capabilities, and none in Iceland.

The researchers also found significant differences in efficiency levels between coutries; for exampe, Norwegian datacentres tend to be about 50 per cent larger than those in Iceland and use only half as much electricity per unit area.

Study authors Professor Benjamin Sovacool, Dr Chukwuka Monyei and Dr Paul Upham recommended increased public R&D funding to help develop options to lower emissions, such as new cooling techniques, AI for infrastructure management, materials for ultrahigh density storage, and quantum computing.

The authors also called for more reliable and transparent information on datacentre performance, energy use and operation. There are large differences in reporting between countries, with some nations - like China - completely lacking data. The most common way of measuring datacentre efficiency, a metric called power usage effectiveness (PUE), is also notoriously unreliable when it comes to comparing facilities against each other.

Dr Paul Upham said, "There is a transformative potential to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of datacentres and the trend over the past two decades has shown significant progress.

"But innovation can only carry the industry so far. Further improvements in energy efficiency alone will be unable to keep up with the sheer growth in datacentre usage and there is an urgent need to further decouple electricity demand from our ever-increasing appetite for digitalisation and data services.

"The move towards green data centres built upon innovative green and renewable technologies needs to be fast tracked, and we believe national governments have policy levers that can help incentivise datacentre operators to go down that route."

Governments must manage 'out of control demands' of the internet

Datacentre power demands - and emissions - are increasing exponentially, and governments must incentivise change

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