More
people than ever before believe climate change is real. The growing support for
concrete steps to fight it forces governments and companies to seriously
consider ways to cut carbon emissions and use cleaner sources of energy. This
process is not easy, but more companies see the savings outweigh the costs when
going eco-friendly. Data centers are now at the forefront of that effort.
Data Centers Use Dirty Fuel?
As
an average person, you may wonder why data centers are carbon emission
offenders. Since they rely on electricity on the grid, it would be a common
assumption that the energy comes from various sources. However, the truth is
quite different. According to the EIA 42% of all electric power produced in the
United States comes from coal. Another 25% comes from natural gas. Looking at
these numbers, roughly two-thirds of all electricity produced in America comes
from fossil fuels. Data centers use a large amount of power everyday and the
energy they consume grows with the demand for more cloud computing services
like streaming video and other forms of data storage. It was something no one
really expected. IT companies know of the growing problem and already actively
seek solutions to shrink their carbon footprints
Taking Steps To Solve The Problem
For
most companies, the long-term solution of increasing the share of renewable
power they use to power their data centers is not practical in the short-term.
Due to costs and political barriers, it could take another full decade, if not
more, for renewable energy to reach shares at the level of coal electricity.
The best and most effective step companies can take now is to find ways to
reduce energy use and make changes in the infrastructure of their data centers.
Many of these steps are easy and cheap to do. Here are some ways data centers
now cut down on electricity use.
Cooling and Lighting
A
big source of the energy drain for data centers is cooling and lighting. Since
people make use of cloud computing around the clock, the servers can't turn off
like other electronics. This means data center servers face the constant threat
of overheating. To face this problem most companies spend millions for cooling
systems that exacerbate the energy problem. Put simply, it takes even more
power to cool servers constantly year round. Lighting makes the problem worse
by emitting heat and using even more electricity. New solutions for this
include LED lighting and designing data centers to use natural cooling sources
like outside air and open aisles. Companies also employ new technologies like
motion sensors so data center cooling system only work when needed.
Backup Power
Another
threat to cloud computing is backup power. When a major storm hits an area like
New York, the damage for the IT infrastructure is astounding because power gets
shut down and data lost. To prevent this, many data centers have redundant back
up systems. These take extra power. Some companies are looking at implementing
renewable energy sources to power and charge back up systems.
Energy Efficient Servers
Another
way to cut energy use is the servers. A simple step is for companies to buy EPA
certified servers. These servers are certified for their increased energy
efficiency. Each of these steps alone might seem small, but together they
provide significant step forward towards making data centers more
energy-efficient and pushing for larger changes in other aspects of business to
fight climate change.