Data Centre's account for over 25% of global ICT CO2 emissions
Data centres that require energy to run servers and provide cooling account for almost a quarter of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from information and communications technology (ICT), according to Gartner.
Not enough attention has been paid to reducing the data centre’s carbon emissions and it's the fastest growing area within the IT industry. With more and more websites going live every day, the rise in hosting needs is ever increasing. Organisations should aim to keep their data centre CO2 emissions constant but this is easier said than done. This all illustrates the need for green hosting, carbon free and carbon neutral services to help reduce your carbon emissions.
Data centres account for such a large portion of ICT CO2 emissions for a number of reasons. There is a lack of floor-space, a failure to house high-density servers and increased power consumption and heat generation. In addition, the cooling systems are adding to the problem.
Most organisations have grown their infrastructure (servers, storage and networks) considerably during the past three years. While the volume growth of these machines is set to rise annually for the next five years, a general lack of new data centre builds during the past nine years means that quality data-centre floor space is limited. The importance of more green data centres and green hosting is more and more crucial.
The Damage of Data Centres
According to recent reports from Gartner, the 'IT Professional's best first source for addressing virtually any IT issue', data centres account for approximately a quarter of the entire IT industry carbon emissions with PCs and monitors account for 40 per cent of all output.
This figure only further backs up the need for green IT solutions including green hosting and stricter guidelines on how to green up a typical office.
The 25% figure is unfortunately not standing still and the damaging effect of data centres is rapidly rising as virtualisation and growing data processing becomes ever more vital. The World Wide Web, it's online companies, it's hosting and it's information is steadily growing. With the Internet expanding at an alarming rate we can expect that 25% to rise dramatically.
In January 2007, an Internet monitoring company called Netcraft has tracked Web growth since 1995, reported that there were 106,875,138 Web sites with domain names and content on them in 2007, compared to just 18,000 Web sites in August 1995. There are now, in 2009, over 162,000,000 (million) sites and every site has to be hosted and stored and powered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
"Data centres account for such a large portion of ICT CO2 emissions for three main reasons," said Rakesh Kumar, a research vice president at Gartner.
"There is a lack of floor space, a failure to house high-density servers and increased power consumption and heat generation. These three issues will affect the cost of running a data centres."
It is estimated that microprocessor energy consumption alone will double within the next 10 years. Hardware such as PCs and monitors are making leaps and bounds to cut their energy consumption but data centres are slower on the up take. Iceland is starting to develop something with energy efficient data centres and their is development in greener battery power. Carbon Free hosting centres are needed in mass and are we to reduce IT emission figures, they are needed fast.
The IT Issue to be included in the expanded CDM
Within a corporate environment, the IT department is one of the big offenders. To battle this, the IT industry will be brought up in the forthcoming draft climate treaty at next month's UN summit in Copenhagen, thanks to a successful lobbying campaign from the international body The International Telecommunications Union, regulators of the IT and telecommunications industry.
The main goal being to reduce Carbon emissions with the IT sector and to involve the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) offsetting scheme.
Ways to reduce carbon emissions with the IT sector include general green practices such as eliminating your screen saver and switching off your computer to having your website hosted using carbon free web hosting or carbon neutral web hosting and using energy saving power sources.
Green Grid releases new Green Policy
The Green Grid has published a new business guide in an attempt to create better efficiencies certain European data centres including the UK.
"Climate change and fuel security have dramatically risen up the policy agenda, resulting in a comprehensive policy framework at both the European Union (EU) and national levels. The growth of data centres, and their energy intensity, means the industry will be particularly affected by the drive for energy efficiency of product design and building services." - CB Richard Ellis
Green Group has said that the 32 page guide provides data centres with a fully packed facts and figures guide on how to green up their operations.
Although the guide is, just that, the UK Carbon Reduction Commitment that is set to be introduced will force data centres to meet green requirements or they will be forced to pay a penalty. For more information see the www.carbontrust.co.uk
Shadow Energy and Climate Minister Maps Out Tory Proposals
The Conservative Party has mapped out its climate change and energy policies for the forthcoming election, pledging to take action to address potential energy shortfalls by approving proposals for new nuclear power plants, while increasing incentives for investment in low-carbon technologies.
Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, shadow energy and climate change secretary Greg Clark argued that quick steps were required to limit the risk of power blackouts over the next decade, a charge recently denied by the government.
Clark said a Conservative government would "begin with immediate action to keep Britain's lights on, to cut greenhouse gas emissions and give Britain leadership in a low-carbon world".
He also argued that the industry has been hamstrung by the government's failure to appoint a long-term energy minister. "[In] 12 years there have been no less than 15 energy ministers. They had an average of nine months each. Enough to make a baby. But, apparently, not to make a decision."
Clark claimed that the Tories would also boost the renewable energy industry by mandating National Grid to extend its network out to offshore wind and marine energy sources, and setting out plans for a smart grid and national roll out of smart meters designed to help curb energy use and provide recharging for electric vehicles.
Clark also set out plans for a "green deal" that would provide homeowners with up to £6,500 to give their home a green makeover. The scheme, which closely mirrors government proposals for a green home-loan scheme, energy firms or charities would undertake work such as installing insulation or double glazing and then recoup the cost through the building's energy bills.
Ed Milliband criticised the Tory’s proposals: “"The Tories fail to deliver on renewables, since Tory councils turn down 60 per cent of wind farm applications; they can't tackle climate change through Europe because they hang around with climate change deniers; and they vote against the investment in the green manufacturing jobs of the future," he told The Guardian. "Voters should beware: the Tories may talk green but they act blue."
Energy Group Claims EU’s New Solar Energy Plan Is Inadeqete
The European Commission's new plans to boost solar technology development focuses too much on research and not enough on commercial technology, said the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) on Wednesday. The body also claimed that the proposal would not receive sufficient funding. It is lobbying for more public money to be set aside to support the solar industry's growth.
The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled a new plan for achieving its greenhouse gas reduction goals and called for an additional €50 billion investment in research and development of green energy technologies over the next decade, including solar, wind, nuclear, carbon capture and storage.
For the solar thermal power development, the proposal wants to finance up to 10 demonstration power plants, as well as to support research into storing power for use at night, cutting costs and boosting energy production.
To boost funding to €50 billion would mean increasing the annual investment from €3 billion to €8 billion from over the next decade, the commission said. The European Union has set a target of reducing its carbon emissions by 20 percent below the 1990 levels by 2020.
The commission said: "Energy efficiency is the simplest and cheapest alternative to reduce CO2 and improve energy security. In transport, buildings and industry, available technology opportunities must be turned into business opportunities."
The EPIA, which represents companies that make solar panels and related components, said the commission should direct more support at deploying solar technologies that already are commercially available and making Europe the largest solar market in the world.
The body said: “"The EC is putting too much emphasis on long-term research and should better recognise the need for accelerating the development of existing commercial and pre-commercial [solar] technologies.” The EPIA also wants the commission to include solar in its Smart Cities initiative.
