DATA CENTRES
Striking the balance
David Watkins
David Watkins, solutions director at Virtus Data Centres discusses the increasingly important issue of sustainably using water for cooling in data centres.
T
he digital revolution has driven a wave of positive technological advancements, most recently Artifi cial Intelligence (AI), transforming the way we live and work. At the heart of this transformation are data centres, the unsung heroes of our digital age. These critical facilities house the servers and infrastructure that power our favourite online services such as Netfl ix, online banking, podcasts, maps, and much more - but their continued growth and usage needs to be managed both economically and sustainably. And this rapid proliferation of data centres has led to critical questions being asked about their environmental impact, particularly concerning water usage in cooling technologies. As data centres expand to meet this ever-increasing demand, some facilities require signifi cant amounts of water for cooling and other operational processes in order to keep systems running. This reliance on water resources can place stress on local water supplies, causing concerns about water scarcity issues in regions already grappling with this challenge. It’s been the subject of some headlines and understandably people within and outside the industry are concerned.
24 November 2023 •
www.acr-news.com
The challenge of continuous innovation These water usage concerns leave data centre operators
grappling with a dual challenge. On the one hand, they must meet the ever-increasing demand for data processing, and on the other, they must navigate the intensifying eff ects of climate change. With each passing summer, temperature peaks are becoming more severe. For example, research by the UK government found that the country is experiencing rising temperatures; the most recent decade (2012 to 2021) has been on average 1.0°C warmer than the 1961 to 1990 average; all 10 of the warmest years in the UK have occurred since 2003; 2022 was the UK’s hottest year on record, with an average year-round temperature above 10°C seen for the fi rst time. This trend creates a crucial need for innovative approaches to cooling. What should be recognised is that the data centre industry has long been committed to ensuring sustainability and effi ciency, with providers working hard to use resources including power and water responsibly. In response to these challenges, data centre operators are embracing
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