Originally posted on Data Center Frontier by Voices of the Industry
We know that data runs the planet, which is why we want to ensure that data doesn’t ruin the planet. As leaders in the data center industry, we view our focus on sustainability through the lenses of leadership, commitment, transparency and advocacy.
In recent years, there’s been a global push to reduce carbon emissions and reduce energy consumption inside of the data center. As both consumers and companies demand accessibility to more data faster and with the greatest efficiency, it is becoming more challenging to deliver without acknowledging the significant amount of energy required to run it.
It is imperative that leaders in the data center industry address energy usage and its environmental impact. As the Internet of Things grows exponentially, so will the energy requirements of data centers around the world. It’s estimated that the same amount of electricity that was used to light the entire planet in 1985 is now being used to power edge user devices and the cloud.
The good news is users are demanding that data centers be powered by renewable energy sources, and this is helping to drive change. Today, many data center providers are claiming to be powered by renewable energy and even offering clients renewable energy credits (RECs) to offset their load. However, there is a major difference between companies purchasing only RECs to claim they are “green” versus companies like Switch, Google, eBay, Apple and others that are purchasing both RECs and the associated renewable energy. Only the latter truly impacts the proliferation of renewable energy and helps clean up the data center industry.
To read the full article, view it on the Data Center Frontier website here.
