Tech has helped throughout the years mitigate climate change, from solar and wind energy to paper-saving developments that were a major step towards reducing deforestation.
But, is it enough?
Today we’re going to bring the focus to data centers, a growing concern among environmentalists and researchers. The need for data centers to capture, and support equipment for data processing, data storage, and data transfer grows. We use it in our daily lives to store, inter alia, pictures or emails and it is used on a larger scale by entities and institutions.
But what about their impact on the planet?
Being energy-efficient cloud computing is a priority on the EU political agenda as an EU study shows data centers consume 2.7% of the EU’s total electricity demand and it is expected to reach 3.21% by 2030.
Several studies mention where the impact of these centers is rooted and its actual consequences since high energy use entail high greenhouse emissions unless the energy that has been used is completely sourced from renewables, which goal has not been reached yet. It is also concerning the amount of waste that is produced and the water footprint these infrastructures have for cooling purposes.
It is explicit the need for change but first, we need solutions.
In this regard, Eticas with the collaboration of Ashoka is carrying out an in-depth study to find ways to minimize the environmental impact of data centers with the objective of bringing solutions to the table and gathering knowledge to provide policymakers and researchers with tools to make a positive impact.
To give a wider vision of the landscape and the need for research and measures toward data centers, it is worth noting an expansion of cloud services is being experienced worldwide due to the rapid implementation of new systems. There are nearly 8.000 data centers in the world impacting the environment, and benefiting from tax breaks in the process, accelerating the, sometimes uncontrolled growth, and therefore, the negative impact.
These matters are analyzed in the practical framework developed by Eticas, as It is critical to understand the financial mechanisms that could be used in determining taxes on pollution, server space, and sales tax to ensure responsible and efficient growth of these centers that are the pillar of the internationally used could services and prevent them from reaching the consumption of 3.21% of the EU’s total electricity demand that is expected by 2030. Similarly, waste and water consumption, inter alia, should be watched closely.
Considering the climate emergency, it is vital for civil society organizations to support and develop initiatives with the objective of tackling climate change from different industries. Eticas, as a pioneering tech organization that has been leading the change toward responsible use of technological processes for 10 years, will keep working on initiatives that benefit society and the environment.
From Eticas we want to thank all the creative minds working towards innovation for a greener future.
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