Executive Summary
- Data centre sustainability is facing heightened scrutiny, with industry stakeholders calling for more transparent reporting on energy consumption as growing power demand strains the electricity grid.
- Pressures are mounting as regulation is shifting and reporting is becoming more transparent in an effort to uncover just how much energy and water data centres are using, to guide next steps to enable the industry to be net zero by 2050.
- The industry is making great strides in innovative approaches to its net-zero strategies and integrating efficient, sustainable technology into infrastructure in the early planning stages. Green data centres are increasing and are more of a planning expectation than a ‘nice to have’.
With summers in the UK hitting record highs, devastating floods in rural areas, and frequent forest fires, the Earth’s average surface temperature is rising due to the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (spoiler alert: by us!).
To combat this, the UK aims to be net zero by 2050; if we can utilise renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as close to zero as possible, we should combat climate change and avoid environmental catastrophes.
Now, at the forefront of the carbon discussions and the net-zero strategy, data centres are a spicy hot topic. The industry has experienced significant growth over the last few years, accompanied by an increase in energy consumption and environmental impacts that the industry will need to address in time for 2050. As you’re probably aware, there are concerns around data centres and their sustainability.
Data centres are power-hungry
Currently, data centres consume around 2.5% of the UK’s electricity, and there’s an expectation that this will rise fourfold by 2030. To combat this, the industry is innovating new technology and integrating renewable energy into the running of data centres. Major data centre operators have also committed to achieving voluntary sustainability targets by 2030.
With the explosion of AI and its reliance on extensive computational power, requiring larger, more complex infrastructure and systems, the power demand has increased, and the grid can’t keep up with this rate of growth.
We’re already facing grid capacity constraints and as projects set to increase over the coming years, we could be looking at grid instability becoming the new norm.
The electricity grid constraints could become a bottleneck as soon as this year, alongside high electricity costs and a lack of reliable, low-carbon energy alternatives, which could potentially inhibit the data centre industry’s growth.
The spotlight is intensifying
There are four years for data centres larger than 50KW to reach their voluntary sustainability targets; new data centres, from January 1st 2025, that were operating at full capacity in cool climates had to meet an annual PUE target of 1.3 and this was 1.4 for data centres in warm climates. Existing data centres are expected to reach those same targets by January 2030.
And just 20 years after that, the UK is expected to reduce emissions to essentially zero, a huge feat that will require the data centre industry to find more sustainable alternatives as their primary source of energy to replace fossil fuels – and soon.
We need to think about water conservation and efficiency, too
Data centres consume massive amounts of water, primarily used for cooling systems, with around half of them using 10 billion litres each year, which is the equivalent of the usage of 189,781 people. Areas with a high concentration of data centres, like Slough, could be looking at a potential strain on water supplies soon. The expansion of AI has also contributed to skyrocketing water demands, and it’s predicted by the Environment Agency (EA) that by 2050, there will be a shortfall of nearly five billion litres of water per day – this is half the current public water supply.
The industry is making progress
Despite the intensifying pressure on the industry, innovators are paving the way and making huge progress in the drive to make data centres efficient and sustainable.
Green data centres are on the rise, with ‘being green’ no longer seen as optional; it’s becoming a planning expectation.
More and more, we’re seeing data centre companies launch innovative tech that enables data centres to be more sustainable and efficient, with AI becoming more central to sustainability plans.
Now, the next steps are updated regulations and transparent reporting on data centre energy and water usage; currently, it’s thought that data centres have underreported how much water is used, with it common that water resources used in the planning stages weren’t included. The EU is set to announce new regulations and a ranking system for data centre’s enery performance in Q1 this year, which should aid in uncovering just how much energy is being used and this will guide the industry’s next steps to becoming net-zero.
