While COP27 has just ended in Egypt, warnings about the consequences of global warming are constantly increasing and show the urgency of implementing measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions at the global level.
When defining its 2030 Agenda in September 2015, the UN set itself 17 sustainable development goals to act in favor of humanity, the planet and prosperity. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, nothing can be done without companies, provided that they are able to accurately measure their GHG emissions and that they commit to significant reduction programs. .
While the global economy is going digital and data exchanges are exploding, +139% data growth per year, digital today represents 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, including 1% for data centers . Subject to increased scrutiny, the hosting of IT infrastructures must be scrutinized to serve the decarbonization objectives of companies.
In this context, CIOs need transparency and to identify eco-responsible data center operators able to support their CSR objectives. Here are the six criteria to take into account to make the right choice and reduce the carbon impact of their digital activities.
Host your data in energy-efficient data centers
The Green Deal defined by the European Union aims for the carbon neutrality of our continent by 2050; in this context, some cloud and datacenter operators have committed under the aegis of the Climate Neutral Data Center Pact to achieve PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.3 by 2025 for all new datacenters, and by 2030 for old. Reduction programs and substantial investments are therefore agreed to by these operators, synonymous with performance and energy savings in terms of infrastructure.
Choose data centers powered by renewable energy
In order to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and its energy dependence, France is focusing on nuclear power, but also on the development of renewable energies. The choice of a data center must be made according to the commitments made by the operator in terms of the use of renewable energies. Some of them can now provide their customers with 100% renewable energy produced in France for the consumption of their servers under the Guarantee of Origin certificates.
Check the design, the water consumption, as well as the certifications recognized on the market
While building eco-design issues do not seem to have a direct impact on CIOs, they can however oversee the principle of modular design and ensure the choice of low-power infrastructure equipment. The choice of eco-designed buildings can also be verified through certifications such as Breeam or Leed; and the water consumption index of the infrastructure should also be observed: favor in this case closed-circuit water cooling systems, synonymous with lower consumption. In addition, CIOs will be able to ensure that the data centers they choose meet two environmental standards: ISO14001 and ISO50001, and that they comply with the European Union’s Code of Conduct focused on energy efficiency (Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centers).
Choose a data center with a carbon neutral roadmap
As part of the European Green Deal, data centers must achieve climate neutrality by 2030. The data center operator must therefore have a sustainable development strategy based on a program to reduce its carbon emissions. But this is not enough: make sure that its carbon neutrality policy is not based 100% on compensation principles, but rather on the erasure of residual emissions following an energy efficiency policy . Note that some operators have already achieved carbon neutrality for scopes 1 and 2.
Ensure transparency of your data center operator
Make sure your operator is able to provide you with the carbon values associated with your IT equipment. These measurement indicators are key to measuring your progress. As such, some are developing tools for measuring the carbon footprint, allowing CIOs to compare their current and future impact depending on the choice of datacenter partner. One last element: measure the level of transparency of the operator’s indicators in terms of environmental impact, which you should be able to easily find in its ESG report.
Source the latest eco-responsible innovations
Data centers are increasingly looking to innovate in terms of reducing their carbon footprint and optimizing resources. Solutions exist, such as the recovery and redistribution of waste heat in a logic of circular economy, the use of natural cooling sources, or the use of synthetic diesel to replace fuel oil in generators. Noteworthy among these innovative initiatives is the ability of some operators to develop their own renewable energy supply to power their sites through the use of available natural resources.
To take up a theme dear to Fabrice Bonnifet, the companies of tomorrow will have to reconcile the business world and planetary limits. Companies face a double challenge: to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 without obliterating their digital transformation. CIOs are in the best position to steer projects to reduce the digital carbon footprint, but to do so they are not advancing alone: by choosing partners committed to environmental matters, they accelerate their ability to face the challenge. sustainable development and carbon neutrality.