Mahesh Ramanujam
The artificial intelligence industry is growing rapidly, with major markets in the United States seeing a 70% increase in new data center construction compared to the same period last year. This increase is likely to increase; Experts expect a looser regulatory environment and a further increase in data center construction with President Trump's return to the White House. This boom in data center construction highlights a glaring problem in the current trajectory of our clean energy goals: we need to decarbonize the built environment at scale. A good place to focus decarbonization efforts here is in data centers by incorporating circular economy principles.
Why data centers are energy intensive and critical to decarbonization
Why do data centers offer an unrivaled opportunity for energy savings? They are among the most energy-intensive buildings, consuming 10 to 50 times more energy per living space than a typical office building. This is primarily due to the need for continuous operation and extensive cooling systems. The majority of energy consumption in data centers comes from cooling systems and servers, followed by networking equipment and storage drives. Large data centers with tens of thousands of devices can require over 100 megawatts of power, enough to power about 80,000 homes. That begs the question: How can we get them to net zero?
Addressing a seemingly growing footprint across the globe requires a more holistic, cost-effective circular economy approach that enables us to truly decarbonize data centers at scale. Ways to achieve this include reusing waste heat, as data centers generate a significant amount of heat as a byproduct of their operations. Instead of dissipating this heat, it can be redirected to support local heating systems or agricultural projects. For example, some data centers use waste heat to heat surrounding residential and commercial buildings or to maintain optimal temperatures in greenhouses. Another practice is the disposal of electronic waste. Instead of discarding old servers and components, data centers can refurbish and reuse them. This approach extends the life of the equipment. Google has been a pioneer here, renovating servers and other hardware to maximize their lifespan and extending this behavior across the product line and value chain.
Implementing these circular economy principles requires adopting a comprehensive approach that combines technological innovation, operational efficiency and strategic planning to reduce carbon emissions in data centers and contribute significantly to global decarbonization efforts. And while the initial costs of adopting circular economy practices often require significant investments – including money for new technologies, infrastructure redesign, and staff and staff training – what you can expect in the immediate and long term is nothing short of extraordinary. This is particularly true when looking at the specific emissions reduction initiatives that accelerate the effectiveness of the overall approach. By renovating and reusing servers and other hardware, data centers can significantly reduce the costs associated with purchasing new equipment. Additionally, effective recycling programs help recover valuable materials from obsolete equipment that can be reused in new products, thereby reducing material costs.
When it comes to energy efficiency, implementing circular economy practices can provide some truly transformative benefits. First, it reduces energy costs. By implementing energy-efficient cooling systems and optimizing power consumption, energy consumption can be dramatically reduced, resulting in lower energy bills. Although renewable energy sources such as solar or wind can be expensive to initially set up, they provide long-term cost benefits by reducing reliance on traditional, more expensive energy sources. And then if you think even more deeply about what is possible to accelerate the reduction of emissions, you can generate renewable energy on site by installing solar panels or wind turbines. Look at what Apple is doing. All data centers have been powered by 100 percent renewable energy since 2014.
Overcoming challenges to adopt circular economy practices
However, implementing circular economy practices presents challenges that need to be taken into account, such as data security when reusing or recycling hardware. Hard drives and other storage devices must be thoroughly wiped or destroyed to prevent data breaches that can complicate the reuse process. And then of course coordinating the supply chain is difficult. Effective circular economy practices require coordination across the entire supply chain. These include manufacturers, data center operators and recycling companies. Aligning these stakeholders to ensure materials are efficiently reused or recycled can be complex.
However, with a circular economy, our decarbonization efforts can be innovated, reimagined, transformed and accelerated in ways we never imagined possible. To secure this progress and avoid the data loss that will occur in centers exposed to the threat of climate change, a renewed commitment to protecting these centers on a large scale must be made.
Mahesh Ramanujam is co-founder, president and CEO of Global network for zerothe world's leading net zero certification body for buildings, companies, communities, cities, products, processes and more. Prior to GNFZ, he was President and CEO of the US Green Building Council.