As of the last investigation report in September 2021 data centers have showed to have a significant environmental impact due to their high energy consumption.

Data centres consume a large amount of electricity for cooling, powering servers, and other infrastructure. This high energy usage contributes to carbon emissions and other environmental concerns. Efforts have been made by the industry to improve energy efficiency in data centres through measures such as using renewable energy sources, optimizing cooling systems, and implementing energy-efficient hardware.

Cost of Datacentres

The global demand for data centers is increasing due to digital transformation, leading to increased energy consumption, carbon emissions, and water usage. Sustainability awareness is increasing, prompting regulatory frameworks like EED, CA Title 24, DCS, NABERS, and SEC Climate Risk Disclosures.

Let’s look at an example.
A data center uses 100,000 kilowatts of total energy and the IT equipment uses 55,000 kilowatts
of energy.

Based on the formula above, that gives us a PUE of 1.81 for this data centre

To get the most up-to-date information on the current environmental cost of running data centres in the world, I recommend checking recent this report

According to The Guardian, the energy consumption of data centres is set to account for 3.2 percent of the total worldwide carbon emissions by 2025, and they could consume almost a fifth of global electricity.

The boom in generative AI has prompted the need for data centres, which require a large amount of power. Christine Todd Whitman, Former New Jersey Governor, EPA Administrator and States United Democracy Center Co-Founder and Co-Chair takes us through how small modular reactors might mitigate the environmental effects of powering data centers.