by Jason Currill, CEO Ospero

2. As the world we live in continues to develop better technologies
and new and exciting ways of communicating, our demand for
energy grows.
Data centers are the engines that drive our connected world,
processing the billions of daily transactions, comments and
interactions in our digital society.
More data equals more energy – and this is starting to become a
big headache from a sustainability perspective.
If a singular data center can consume the
equivalent energy of 180,000 homes,
exactly how large is the overall impact on
our planet, and what is being done about
it?

3. Data on energy & computing
Sourcing reliable figures on datacenter output and its
effect on the world is difficult, due in part to the fast rate
of growth as well as rapidly changing technology and
business models. However, the main factor that defines a
lack of accurate data has been the unwillingness of major
IT brands to act transparently in their operations.
Historically, cloud brands have not been willing to
disclose information through fear of revealing
competitive advantage or disadvantage
in operations.

4. According to a 2007 report from iClimate on global e-sustainability,
the world‟s data centers and telecommunications networks used a
combined electricity of 623 billion kWh. What does that number
mean? Well, if the cloud were a country, it would have the fifth largest
electricity demand in the world, sitting somewhere between India and
Japan on the global energy consumption charts.
The report also indicates that cloud-serving data centers are
responsible for 2 percent of the world‟s annual CO2 emissions – a
figure that has likely grown in the five years since the reports creation.
Two percent may not sound like a massive amount, but when you
consider how much the ecosystem of data has changed since 2007,
that 2 percent could easily become 4 percent in a very short time
frame.

5. from iClimate on global e-sustainability

6. The exponential growth in data consumption both at home with super-
fast broadband and on the go with 3G and 4G data connections have
meant that 2007‟s figure really no longer applies. However
Greenpeace‟s 2010 report “Make IT Green,” predicts the demand for
data center electricity will more than triple over the next five years,
resulting in an energy demand totaling that of France, Germany,
Canada and Brazil combined.
The largest culprit for the massive spike in data seen recently is the
mobile industry. Mobile data traffic in 2011 was eight times the size
of the entire internet in 2000.
By the end of 2012 the number of connected devices is expected to
exceed the global population. This mobile boom is largely down to
large scale adoption in emerging markets. As of January 2012 India
had 0ver 900 million mobile connections and could become the
largest mobile market in the world in terms of revenue. As hardware
costs fall and functionality increases, this adoption will only continue
to rise, and the data serving providers need to expand to
accommodate the increased demand.

8. Location, location, location
So, what can cloud providers do about this mass demand for
energy? The future of the industry and how it operates is largely down
to 3 things; location, self sufficiency and transparency.
When choosing siting for a new data center, there are a number of
considerations. There has to be an adequate availability of affordable
electricity, telecommunications infrastructure as well as tax incentives,
climate and proximity to end-users.
While many areas of the world can offer these considerations in
abundance, the future of a green cloud is dependent on just two.
Many cloud companies considering self hosted data are moving to
cooler climes to make the most of the „free cooling‟ benefits. Free
cooling is the use of external air for hardware cooling.

9. Traditionally nearly half of a data center‟s power consumption comes
from cooling the rooms of servers that physically hold the data. These
behemoth computers generate a massive amount of heat, and as
such require constant chilling. By locating your data centre in an area
of naturally low temperatures, such as the Nordic countries, providers
can half their consumption by drawing in the chilled outside air.
This shift is already starting to happen as providers find the financial
benefits a driving force, and the green outcome an added perk.

10. The second consideration to location is positioning in relation to a
renewable energy source. Many of the worlds largest data center‟s
are driven by coal and gas. This is classed as dirty energy, however a
number of providers are making the move to sustainability through
renewable energy
Facebook built its third major data center in Lulea, Sweden – a
location chosen for the large amount of existing hydroelectric capacity
at high availability. The data center is fully powered with renewable
energy from an outer source.
The problem with the location fix is that a huge number of data centers
already exist in areas that do not have access to renewable energy
sources. For these providers, often their only choice for external power is
coal. A growing number of cloud companies are taking matters into their
own hands and creating their own source of energy.

11. The one thing a data center has going for it is size. If we take i/o Data
Centers as an example, their facility in Phoenix, Arizona has an
enormous 580,000 sq ft footprint that has allowed them to install
5,000 solar panels in an array that will generate a total of 4.5MW at
peak capacity. Though this is just a fraction of the 100MW demand,
the solar panels will be married with thermal storage technology to
reduce the energy drain of cooling during the heat of the day
Apple has recently announced a 20MW solar array and has also
invested in a 5MW fuel cell device on site in Maiden, NC. The industry is
starting to sit up and listen.

12. A company like Google, Amazon, Facebook or Apple has enormous
clout in the areas they operate. These tech giants are big fish to the
local utility firms, who will all be vying to supply them with power upon
creation of new centers. By negotiating renewable energy with the
utilities, corporations can begin to change the coal driven ecosystem
and drive the industry towards a brighter future.
IT and cloud providers have a duty to research renewable energy
sources and implement sustainable power solutions. As well as this duty
to source green energy, they also have a duty to report on it. By
releasing figures on energy output, full research can be engaged and
better solutions and energy standards can be created.

13. The future of our technological
advancement is no longer down to
competition and advantage.
Providers need to work together
to create a better plan for our
engorging power drain so that we
have a future to enjoy the
technology in.

14. Read the article on
You may also like:
Gary Cook "How cloud
computing can help lead a
clean energy revolution“
Read here

15. Ospero_JasonC
About Ospero
About the Author: Ospero‟s distribution-as-a-service (DaaS) offering,
helps business rollout global SaaS instances without
Jason Currill is founder and CEO of Ospero, a vendors having to worry about legal compliance,
global Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) company. latency issues and privacy headaches.
All of Ospero‟s data centers comply with
The company, through a federated cloud strategy, the ISO 4001 standard. The company believes in
has one of the largest ubiquitous, single vendor green and has recently been praised by external
cloud platforms in the world. Before founding assessors for the maturity of their environmental
Ospero, Jason, a seasoned technology Executive management systems.
with over 15 years international sales experience,
worked with Cisco Systems, Business Objects (a
SAP company) and NetSuite, in charge of both
EMEA and NA territories. Prior to his career in IT, www.ospero.com
Jason worked on the London International E: emea@ospero.com
Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE) for almost 10
years as a Futures Trader. @ospero_

16. Image sources:
http://greendca.org/
http://www.rinnovabili.it/energia/efficienza-energetica/eni-green-data-center-con-i-
nuovi-ups-efficienza-oltre-il-994-8139/
http://tech4green.it/2009/09/ma-budget-sono-realmente-sempre/
http://www.applenmicro.com/2012/05/18/apple-goes-green-plans-a-100-green-
data-center/
http://www.ultragreencenters.com/Home_Page.html
http://blog.nei.com/2011/04/01/data-center-dc-power/
http://faceuall.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/green-computing-or-green-it.html
http://greenit.ulitzer.com/latest/articles

17. Thank you for reading
www.ospero.com
: emea@ospero.com
@ospero_