The Data Center industry faces a new challenge from the European Union's (EU) ratification of the Paris Agreements. Data Centers will now be required to report their carbon footprint metrics – the amount of Carbon dioxide emitted during their operations.
Why is the data center industry facing new regulations?
The data center industry has been facing new regulations since the heat wave that hit Europe in 2003 when many significant cities experienced power outages due to a lack of capacity.
The European Commission's Directive on Electricity and Natural Gas Markets (2003/54/EC) requires EU member states to ensure that all energy suppliers are obligated to purchase electricity from renewable sources at capped prices. In 2009, they modified the directive with the Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC, which expands the scope of the original order and extends its application beyond electricity to include other forms of energy like biofuel.
Precisely, design measures the development of clean technologies by increasing demand for them; they also impact data centers that rely heavily on traditional power sources.
The EU has set ambitious goals for 2020:
-renewable energy sources should account for 20% of total energy consumption.
-27% of final energy consumption should be from renewables, and
-reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 20%.
Data centers (DC) are critical infrastructures.
The federal government has designated data centers as critical infrastructure, which applies to many facilities, including power plants and water treatment facilities.
Data centers are critical infrastructures for two main reasons: They provide power and other services to much of the nation's economy, and they are the target of cyberattacks from foreign governments, criminal groups, and others.
"The digital economy is now an important part of our national security," said Sean McGurk, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at Homeland Security Department. "We know these attacks have harmed our financial institutions and have had huge impacts on our private sector."
DCs use more energy than industries like manufacturing, transportation, and retail combined.
The data center industry uses more energy than the manufacturing, transportation, and retail sectors combined.
That's according to a new report from The Green Grid, an industry organization promoting sustainable data center practices. The report found that US data centers consumed 3.1 percent of total electricity use in 2016. Equivalent to the amount of power needed to light up all US homes for two years.
According to The Green Grid report, data centers are responsible for more than just the power they consume directly; they also contribute indirectly by using resources like water and land. For example, the servers within a data center require cooling systems that use water — and those cooling systems require power from the grid.
Average data center emissions are twice as high as the average emissions of all US businesses combined.
Climate change affects some regions of the United States more than others.
Climate change is affecting some regions of the United States more than others. In a report published in Environmental Research Letters, researchers from the University of Maryland found that while most areas experienced changes in their temperature and rainfall patterns, there were some exceptions:
The Southwest was most affected by warming temperatures and increased rainfall.
The Northeast saw its temperature drop, but its precipitation increased.
The Southeast saw an increase in both temperature and rainfall.
The Midwest saw its precipitation decrease while its temperature increased slightly.
There's no simple solution for reducing climate change's impact on DCs, but there are things you can do to decrease the effects of your company on the environment.
There's no simple solution for reducing climate change's impact on Data centers, but there are things you can do to decrease the effects of your company on the environment.
The first thing to understand is that climate change isn't just about greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints — it's also about water and land use. So if you're looking at a new office or warehouse, consider whether it would be better to locate in an area with abundant water supplies and green space rather than building in a desert or near an arid coastline. The same goes for choosing energy sources; solar or wind power is far less harmful than coal or natural gas.
Another essential consideration is transportation since most companies rely on trucks to deliver goods from one location to another. While it's impossible to eliminate freight traffic, you should reduce it by buying local products whenever possible, thus cutting down on shipping costs and carbon emissions from trucks. If you have a large office building with multiple floors, install elevators, so people don't have to walk up flights of stairs daily; this will reduce energy use and save money on heating bills during winter months!
Read more about: EU data center regulation expecting more green energy use.
Conclusion
Datacenter regulation is a tricky subject. There are many different types of regulations, some more strict than others. But it's essential to understand how these regulations affect your business.
High-profile data centers such as Facebook and Google have been under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint for years. Now, we expect other data center operators to do the same.
The European Union has approved new rules that require companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 onwards. Data centers will need to write their emissions from 2021 onwards, which could lead to increased pressure on the industry to reduce its environmental impact.
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