For all our striving to make data centres more efficient, green, and sustainable, many data centres rely on backup power provided by generators for medium-term outages.
Currently viewed as an essential backup tool, generators provide access to power in an emergency so that critical systems can remain online. However, as well as what can be seen as their less-than-optimal environmental credentials, generators also require ongoing maintenance to ensure they are ready when needed, they take up considerable space and require fuel storage. So, what are some of the backup power alternatives we should be considering in order to remove this fossil-fuel reliance?
New alternatives
Around the world renewable energy projects are being paired with renewable energy storage. For example, to power their data centres in the United States, Amazon is working on a 300-megawatt (MW) solar project paired with 150 MW of battery storage in Arizona; and a 150 MW solar project paired with 75 MW of batter storage in California. Other options for green power generation and storage include wind power and hydro energy. As a result of these energy options, data centre operators may decide they don’t require generators at all.
To make the most of the energy which is generated and stored, it pays to directly connect the data centre to these sources. Colocation of green energy generation and data centres, with their own microgrid configuration, can help to reduce the amount of energy which is lost during transmission. Likewise, battery storage located at the site can be used whenever the green energy generation is not high enough. Because of the high energy demands of the site, large scale energy redundancies would be required.
Taking this approach to the next level, perhaps we will one day see energy storage incorporated into data centre hardware, such as the server or UPS itself. Then, backup power could be directly accessed by the hardware where it is needed.
Reducing energy needs
In 2010, data centres around the world consumed roughly 194 terawatt-hours of energy, or 1% of worldwide electricity use. Over time, the computing capability of these data centres, the traffic and the storage capacity of them, has risen significantly, but thanks to greater efficiencies, energy consumption has grown only moderately. What if we were able to reduce this energy use even further?
With cooling such a big part of the energy consumption of data centres, it makes sense that this is an area of consideration. Perhaps in the future we will see hardware components which can withstand higher temperatures, and therefore require less cooling or potentially even no cooling? Perhaps the heat produced within data centres can be used to control climate elsewhere? For example, in some data centres we have seen the heat being incorporated into adjacent building’s HVAC systems and centralised community heating systems. In other scenarios we even see the heat used in adjacent facilities such as indoor farms, where it can be used to create the ideal conditions for growing food.
Energy for the future
A combination of reducing energy expenditure and moving power backup solutions to more energy efficient options will help us create data centres which operate more efficiently and sustainably in the future. With a reduction in carbon emissions a primary goal, and many people working towards this, we are sure to achieve a better outcome for the future.
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