The exponential growth of data centers has brought their environmental impact into focus. As demand for digital infrastructure rises, the industry faces mounting pressure to decarbonize and operate more sustainably.
To address this, data center developers and operators are adopting a suite of new technologies. This includes switching to renewable energy, advanced cooling, energy-efficient hardware, and better e-waste management.
Our previous article explored the environmental challenges of data centers. Today we examine the emerging Climate Tech solutions reshaping the industry and mitigating the environmental footprint.
Reducing energy consumption
In 2022 alone, data centers consumed an estimated 240–340 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, equivalent to 1–1.5% of total global electricity demand. Together with data transmission networks, they account for roughly 1% of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The goal of a data center is to achieve a power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio as close to 1.0 as possible—a benchmark that signals near-optimal energy efficiency.
What is data center power usage effectiveness (PUE)?
PUE is a key industry metric that measures the ratio of a facility’s total power consumption to the power used by computing equipment alone. A lower PUE indicates more efficient energy use. Since 2007, the average industry PUE has improved significantly from 2.5 to 1.56. Industry leaders such as AWS and Google now report impressive PUE scores of 1.15 and 1.10, respectively.
Transitioning to green data centers hinges on integrating renewable energy sources to mitigate carbon emissions. This involves powering data center operations exclusively through renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydropower. Innovations include on-site renewable energy generation and hybrid renewable systems combining multiple energy types.
Shifting to renewable energy
A data center’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions depend on the energy mix it relies on. Traditionally, many data centers have drawn electricity from fossil fuel sources, resulting in substantial carbon emissions. Another major contributor to GHG emissions in data centers is the diesel generator commonly used as backup power to ensure uninterrupted uptime.
To address these challenges, leading technology companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have set ambitious emissions reduction targets by relying on renewable energy. Through power purchase agreements (PPAs), Amazon and Microsoft were the two largest buyers of renewable energy in 2021. Beyond renewables, there are ongoing efforts to leverage nuclear energy through small modular reactors (SMRs) as a source of carbon-free energy.
As the adoption of renewables increases, it also influences data center design. A key trend is the replacement of diesel generators with energy storage technologies for short-term backup power. This shift marks a broader move toward cleaner, more resilient infrastructure that aligns with sustainability goals.
Thermal energy storage
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) can boost the energy efficiency of data center operations. It involves capturing and storing thermal energy during periods of low demand to be used later during peak demand, reducing overall energy consumption.
TES enables data centers to significantly reduce carbon emissions traditionally associated with diesel-based backup systems. TES also plays a critical role in improving operational continuity during power outages avoiding costly downtime and potential revenue losses.
For instance, Intel IT deployed a low-cost thermal storage system that continued cooling the servers during an electrical outage at a high-density data center. The system successfully kept servers cool while they remained powered by an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), thereby avoiding thermal damage to the servers.
Google has also leveraged energy storage solutions to become one of the first hyperscale data center providers to implement lithium-ion battery backup units (BBUs). Google has deployed over 100 million lithium-ion cells across its global data centers. These systems ensure short-duration backup power during outages and help safeguard user data.
In a successful example of thermal energy innovation, Google’s Taiwan data center adopted a thermal storage system that chills insulated tanks at night when electricity costs are lower.
Data center rack and server hardware efficiency
One of the most critical elements in driving efficient data center operations is the design and management of server racks.
What are server racks in a data center?
Server racks provide the physical structure to house essential components, including servers, networking equipment, and power delivery systems. Measuring and optimizing performance per rack is key to evaluating power consumption, rack density, and data center performance. This kind of analysis ultimately informs the development of more sustainable and cost-effective facility designs.
Adding more racks naturally increases power and cooling requirements, along with infrastructure and operational expenses. Operators can significantly cut energy use and cooling demand, thereby boosting overall facility efficiency by reducing the number of racks needed to support a given workload.
Rack and server hardware efficiency initiatives center around improving both performance and power consumption. There are two methods to boost the performance per rack in data centers that enable more effective power distribution and greater processing efficiency:
Smart power distribution units
Smart Power Distribution Units (PDUs) improve energy efficiency by enabling real-time monitoring, control, and optimization of power usage at the rack level. These insights help operators detect idle servers, respond to power surges or abnormal temperature changes, and plan capacity with greater precision.
Importantly, smart PDUs also support data-driven decisions around server decommissioning. By flagging consistently underperforming equipment, they free up valuable rack space and reduce unnecessary energy usage.
Microelectronics
Microelectronics play a pivotal role in advancing data center hardware performance and energy efficiency. These include next-generation semiconductors, high-efficiency processors, and silicon photonic chips designed for faster data transmission with lower energy loss.
Cooling efficiency
Energy consumption in data centers largely stems from two components: computing operations and cooling systems. Cooling accounts for up to 40% of energy usage in data centers, making efficient cooling strategies vital. Water is the primary means to cool data centers to prevent servers from overheating, but it is unsustainable at scale.
Data center cooling efficiency involves optimizing cooling systems to manage and dissipate heat effectively, ensuring equipment operates within optimal temperature ranges while minimizing energy consumption.
Several emerging technologies are being developed to strengthen cooling system efficiency and lower energy consumption in data centers. Some of the innovative solutions to replace water as a cooling agent are:
- Liquid cooling systems (e.g., immersion cooling, direct-to-chip): These methods transfer heat more efficiently and require significantly less power by applying cooling liquids directly to heat-producing components.
- Air cooling: These strategies take advantage of ambient air temperatures to reduce reliance on compressors and chillers.
- Aisle containment: By isolating hot and cold air streams, containment systems reduce airflow inefficiencies and improve overall cooling effectiveness.
Data center waste management
Data center waste management is the effective management and repurposing of equipment to reduce environmental impact. This includes advanced approaches for waste heat recovery and the secure, responsible disposal and recycling of end-of-life IT assets.
Waste heat recovery
Waste heat recovery improves energy efficiency and minimizes environmental degradation caused by carbon emissions and excess heat discharge.
Data center waste heat recovery involves capturing and repurposing the thermal energy generated during operations. This recovered heat can heat nearby buildings, integrate into district heating systems, or even support internal functions by reducing cooling loads. These applications deliver energy and cost savings while supporting broader decarbonization goals.
A notable example is Microsoft’s data center in Høje-Taastrup, Denmark. The facility is expected to generate enough waste heat to warm approximately 6,000 local homes. This is made possible through an air-to-liquid heat exchanger system that captures heat from the data center and redirects it as heated water to a local district heating network.
IT asset disposal
As hardware ages or becomes obsolete, data center operators must ensure responsible and secure disposal practices. Data center IT asset disposal is the sustainable management of end-of-life electronic equipment to reduce environmental impact and uphold data security standards.
Key practices include secure data destruction, proper handling of hazardous materials, and recycling methods that enable material recovery. Reusing and recycling retired equipment minimizes e-waste and reduces the resource and carbon-intensive process of raw material extraction.
This approach aligns with circular economy principles, where decommissioned servers and electronic components are treated as valuable resources to be refurbished, repurposed, or recycled instead of discarded.
Additionally, enhancing internal recycling programs through collaboration with specialized e-waste partners ensures that obsolete components are processed in a compliant and environmentally sound manner, supporting both sustainability targets and regulatory requirements.
Data center digitalisation
Data center digitalisation transforms traditional infrastructure management by embedding intelligent technologies into core operations. It involves the deployment of digital systems to monitor, control, and optimize energy use, thermal efficiency, asset performance, and infrastructure resilience.
Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)
DCIM is the use of integrated software and hardware systems to monitor and optimize the physical infrastructure within data centers. This includes monitoring power consumption, cooling performance, and equipment utilization.
Data center smart conditions monitoring
Smart conditions monitoring builds on DCIM by incorporating advanced sensors and analytics to track environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and airflow in real time. These systems allow early detection of deviations that could lead to equipment failure or energy inefficiencies.
Driving data center sustainability through innovation
The data center industry has emerged as a frontrunner in Climate Tech leadership, proactively investing in decarbonization. Such efforts showcase how a collaborative ecosystem of technology companies can transform sustainability goals into measurable progress. Through continuous innovation in energy use, cooling, digitalization, and circular design, the sector proves that environmental responsibility and technological advancement can go hand in hand.
To maintain this momentum, sustained investment and a commitment to innovation will be critical in minimizing the environmental impact of our increasingly digital lives.
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