We live in a world where almost everything is digitized, from shopping to paying bills to entertainment and gaining information. So whenever you are browsing through the internet for your needs, you connect to millions of servers distributed across thousands of data centers worldwide. These are the cloud servers, and every internet user is aware of them.
While they are critical for tech giants, these data centers with exclusive security requirements are built in severance. This is because they need a power supply for the hardware inside, which is a huge source of energy consumption. This article will help you understand why energy consumption matters and what makes them shift from non-renewable to renewables.
Table of Contents
What Exactly Are Data Centers?
Data centers are physical structures that organizations use to safeguard their important applications and data. The designs of data centers are completely based on a computing network and storing critical resources that enable the delivery of shared data and applications. The major components in data centers are systems, servers, storage, routers, firewalls, and application delivery controllers.
In IT industries, data centers support crucial activities like file sharing and email, application productivity, ERP and database, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), communications, virtual desktops, and collaboration services like AI, machine learning, and big data.
Moving Away From Fossil Fuels
The tremendous growth of data centers all over the world has caused electricity demand and supply to surge. It is also a concern because most electricity today is generated by burning fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas. However, they leave behind a carbon footprint which is not good for the environment as they pollute the soil and air, which in turn causes global warming and climate change.
Although significant progress can be seen in the form of shifting to clean electricity, the proportion of power generation via renewable resources. Also, if efficient opportunities are found, moving existing data centers to renewable energy sources can help combat environmental, climate, and health concerns. So, data centers and giant tech firms should definitely shift towards green energy.
Benefits Of Renewable Energy
Most of these data centers are now shifting towards renewable energy. There are several reasons behind rooting these centers for a renewable energy transition. Considering the huge amount of energy that data centers require to operate, about 1-1.5 % of global electricity, according to IEA. So here are some of the reasons which can explain why data centers are now adopting renewables.
- Data Centers Require High Amounts Of Energy: Data centers consume a huge amount of energy because they use many types of equipment and gadgets that need electricity. They use the energy not only to run the servers but also to keep them cool. For this reason, some agencies tried to locate their centers in colder regions to save on cooling costs and energy. These cloud data centers, also known as hyperscale sectors, are major power consumers, and they are also steadily increasing power usage. This has led them to shift to renewables by investing in green energy with companies offering solar battery Adelaide.
- Easy To Predict Consumption Pattern: It is very easy to predict electricity consumption in data centers owing to the organization’s work setup. They use various machines and equipment to monitor and measure their energy usage, including data collectors, power meters, and energy management software. The operators in data centers will understand better how much energy is consumed and what can be done to reduce the consumption. Understanding energy usage has helped to improve energy efficiency in data centers. Due to that predictability, it became easier for them to determine and understand renewable energy requirements and consumption.
- Money Is Not An Issue: Biggest data centers are owned by huge companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, etc., so finance was never an issue. The rise of big tech companies and firms is one of the biggest financial developments of the last decade. Now several companies are shifting their focus toward green energy and adopting its concept of sustainable development solutions. Tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft made a commitment to go 100 percent renewable through RE100. They have signed PPAs for the supply of 900 MW of renewable energy for their data centers. You, too, can reach out to companies like Bright Earth Solar for renewable energy supply.
- Great Opportunity To Go Green: Switching to renewable energy use is an important initiative but not easy to achieve its goal. Various ways of using renewable energy stop short because of direct connection to renewable generation or installing them onsite. The two most common installing contracts are Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). But now, generating sufficient renewable energy onsite is a little difficult though roof-mounted solar panels can deliver up to 5% of the annual electricity supply in data centers. A wise way of achieving 100% renewable energy utility is by entering into PPAs with firms offering solar battery Adelaide.
- It’s Good For Business: The opportunity to grow and excel drives interest in any market. Low-carbon and sustainable growth is increasingly becoming a major consideration for the development of data centers. Green initiatives which promote sustainable development, such as the Climate Neutral Data Center Pact and the Long Duration Energy Storage (LEDs), are leading this new transition in data centers. The rise in penetration of robust cloud computing in firms, the surge for scalability, and the increase in the expenditure on renewable energy will further drive global green data centers. Moreover, clients and customers are bound to move towards “green” centers for arresting global change.
Wrapping Up
Data centers are the backbone of the digital world, and for their organization to work efficiently, they use various gadgets and equipment for supporting applications and software. They consume a huge amount of electricity to run that equipment so that they can use renewable energy sources to power their firms. This initiative will benefit their business and make realizing their goals associated with sustainable development much easier and feasible
.