How Data Centre Facilities are Combating Carbon Emissions

Network and internet communication technology concept, data center interior, server racks with telecommunication equipment in server room

The world has become increasingly dependant on technology, the internet and cloud services; millions of global data centre facilities power this demand. These facilities rely on huge amounts of energy to run. In 2017, globally, data centres used 200 terawatt-hours of electricity which is enough electricity to power Australia for a year. Industry leaders such as Microsoft and Google are investing in renewable energy to power their data centres and neutralise the energy they use.

Google uses renewable energy to combat the immense energy usage.

Every second there are about 40,000 Google searches, Google has 14 global data centres to power this immense demand. In 2017 Google’s data centres used 8 million megawatt-hours of energy. Google invested in solar and wind energy to help neutralise their output of carbon emissions. In turn, they matched 100% of the energy used with renewable energy. Google has also introduced a policy of designing out waste by scrapping old servers from their data centres and reusing the parts, parts that cannot be reused are wiped and sold on secondary markets.

Microsoft has pledged to work towards being carbon neutral by 2030

Microsoft has also committed to reducing its carbon emissions. Since 2012 Microsoft have had an internal carbon ‘tax’ of $15 per metric tonne. This means there is an incremental fee on Microsoft for their carbon emissions from their data centres, offices, labs, manufacturing, and business air travel. Microsoft have stated by the end of 2018 half of the power used by its data centres came from renewable energy; their goal is for it to be 60% by the end of 2019.

How can my business contribute?

Did you know using the cloud is more environmentally conscious than having in-house servers? The Microsoft Cloud is more carbon efficient than in-house services by up to 98%. Read more about our cloud services and cloud backup. Additionally, through our HP recycle program you can recycle your old PC’s for them to be reused in manufacturing.