Organisations increasingly concerned about data centre sustainability

A Nordic company focused on improving the innovation, security and sustainability of data centers has released a guide to help businesses in improving their sustainability profile.

DigiPlex's guide 'Will your IT withstand sustainability review?' focuses on how to assess and manage the sustainability profile of the data centers a business's data resides in.

According to the guide, it is estimated that data centers and digital infrastructure could be responsible for up to 20% of the world's electricity consumption and 5.5% of CO2 emissions within a decade.

The EU Commission note in their digital strategy that data centers are responsible for a significant environmental footprint, and "can and should become climate neutral by 2030.

Furthermore, consumers are looking for ways to improve their sustainability practices. In fact, one in four Scandinavian consumers would consider using the internet less to reduce environmental damage.

Nearly three-quarters of Scandinavians believe digital service providers should report on their energy consumption and its impact on climate.

According to DigiPlex, businesses are also more focused on the environmental impact caused by IT. Data, and the digital infrastructure that supports data collection, use and storage, is essential to almost every business.

However, DigiPlex finds few organisations have the frameworks and processes to accurately report on the environmental impact of the data centers their data resides in.

As they use a wider range of cloud, co-located and on-premise IT facilities, many struggle to identify where data and computing resources are located.

As such, DigiPlex finds there is a greater need for education in this area.

DigiPlex CEO Wiljar Nesse says, "New digital technologies have undoubtedly made the world a better place. But at the same time digitalisation has increased energy consumption.

"Every internet search, every streamed song and every electronic transaction consumes energy. Each individual action is tiny, but the enormous growth in digital activity now consumes massive amounts of energy.

"Our guide not only demonstrates that politicians, environmental groups and consumers are waking up to this, but provides clear, proactive steps that can and must be taken to mitigate the increasing environmental impact of digital on our planet.

He says, "The data economy has escaped environmental scrutiny for too long - now is the time to take responsibility for the impact of your IT on the climate, before customers, governments and regulators force you to.

DigiPlex has focused on research, insights and practical advice around assessing the sustainability of IT provisions and making decisions to improve it based on industry best practice.

It looks at data center areas where action can be taken to prepare for an audit and how to establish the metrics that can help to reduce CO2 emissions.