Data centres must push for better PUE targets as power use soars: reaction

Data centres must push for better PUE targets as power use soars: reaction

AI-generated image of a generic data centre server room

Data centre operators need to push for aggressive power use effectiveness (PUE) targets to reduce the anticipated demands on global grids, according to Professor Aoife Foley, IEEE senior member, Fellow Engineers Ireland, and chair in Net Zero Infrastructure at the University of Manchester

Foley spoke to Capacity in the wake of an International Energy Agency (IEA) report that suggests global data centre consumption could reach more than 1 000 Terawatt hours (TWh) in 2026, the equivalent to the electricity consumption of Japan.

Foley called on data centre firms to be responsible by committing to generating power from more renewable sources and be “aggressive” with their PUE targets to not only reduce power consumption but also their energy costs.

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“These facilities represent huge electricity demands, adding pressure to electricity grids and increasing the challenge of energy transitions, especially in smaller countries.

“Infrastructure and operations leaders have a responsibility here and need to consider the unnecessary waste associated with data storage and commit to generating power from more renewable sources.

The IEA’s report warns that data centres powering workloads for AI and cryptocurrencies, which accumulate vast quantities of data, could double by 2026

Foley suggested that such amounts of data are a leading factor driving higher electricity consumption: “Modern enterprises continuously generate and accumulate vast amounts of data. This includes routine activities across enterprise systems, machines, sensors, and demand-side digitalisation. All of this data comes in multiple forms – whether redundant or critical.

“However, the majority is unstructured and inert content, commonly referred to as ‘dark data’ which is becoming more prevalent. The result is a large volume of digital data that needs to be stored, most of which will not even be accessed later.

“Achieving sustainability means addressing environmental considerations during solution design as well as during the build,” Foley said. “Solutions must meet pre-defined and agreed environmental sustainability criteria. This includes filtering dark data, removing unnecessary information from storage and relying upon ‘greener’ energy sources.”

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