Data and Energy: The Key Facts
ICT will account for 20% of global electricity consumption by 2025.
By 2040, it could be responsible for 14% of carbon emissions
Data centres are a key contributor to this trend, accounting for around 17% of total ICT electricity consumption
Why do we need green data centres?
We are becoming increasingly conscious about the impact our energy consumption, particularly electricity, has on the environment. We now know that the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity is a major contributor not only to air pollution, but also to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is linked to global warming. And yet all the time, our consumption of electricity keeps going up and up.
The digital revolution of the past 20 years has been a major factor in this acceleration. The world no longer relies on electricity just to power machines and appliances. It needs it to keep the vast data exchange networks which define the Internet Age running. Every smartphone, every laptop, every IoT-connected smart device is constantly streaming data to and from these global networks. Be it an IM message, a photograph posted to social media, new content added to a company website or an entire business backhaul being run on remote servers, everything we do online adds to the bottomless ocean of data the digital world generates. Ultimately, all this data requires a physical home, a server to run on. And these physical resources rely on electricity.
Green data centres therefore focus their attention at drastically improving the efficiency of energy consumption in the following ways:
What are the benefits of eco-friendly data centres to my business?
For any business that takes corporate social responsibility seriously, efforts to engender sustainable, responsible business practices do not stop at the door. Conscientious businesses are also very much aware of the credentials of their suppliers and will choose partners based on how well they fit in with their own vision.
Whether you are looking to build a private cloud for your business through dedicated server hosting or co-locate, the location of your data centre should be considered a supplier like any other. Therefore, if your business has policies on the environment and sustainability, IDT is able to meet your green credential requirements and fit within your policy.
Eco data centres allow you to boost your own green credentials. A 30% saving in energy consumption over the lifespan of a standard server (averaged out at four years) can save up to one ton in carbon emissions. And aside from the environmental benefits, there are financial advantages, too – servers and data centres that consume less power cost less to run.
How can we help?
We have nearly 25 years experience in helping guide businesses with their IT investment portfolio and how to best manage this within their organisation. Moving your system into a cloud environment may well be a wise move, especially in today’s changing times.
Remote working and reliance on high speed access to your company data is key in making sure your business is always connected. Talk to us to see if cloud services could benefit your business.
Our friendly team is ready to help.
