Greenpeace report How Clean is Your Cloud? I saw mentioned in 3T magazine news is actually quite interesting reading. This year’s report provides a look at the energy choices some of the largest and fastest growing IT companies. The report analyzes the 14 IT companies and the electricity supply chain in more than 80 data center cases.
The report contains also lots of interesting background information on both IT and telecom energy consumption. I recommend checking it out. Here are some points picked from How Clean is Your Cloud? report:
Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo – these global brands and a host of other IT companies are rapidly and fundamentally transforming the way in which we work, communicate, watch movies or TV, listen to music, and share pictures through “the cloud.”
The growth and scale of investment in the cloud is truly mind-blowing, with estimates of a 50-fold increase in the amount of digital information by 2020 and nearly half a trillion in investment in the coming year, all to create and feed our desire for ubiquitous access to infinite information from our computers, phones and other mobile devices, instantly.
The engine that drives the cloud is the data center. Data centers are the factories of the 21st century information age, containing thousands of computers that store and manage our rapidly growing collection of data for consumption at a moment’s notice. Given the energy-intensive nature of maintaining the cloud, access to significant amounts of electricity is a key factor in decisions about where to build these data centers. Industry leaders estimate nearly $450bn US dollars is being spent annually on new data center space.
Since electricity plays a critical role in the cost structure of companies that use the cloud, there have been dramatic strides made in improving the energy efficiency design of the facilities and the thousands of computers that go inside. However, despite significant improvements in efficiency, the exponential growth in cloud computing far outstrips these energy savings.
How much energy is required to power the ever-expanding online world? What percentage of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is attributable to the IT sector? Answers to these questions are very difficult to obtain with any degree of precision, partially due to the sector’s explosive growth, a wide range of devices and energy sources, and rapidly changing technology and business models. The estimates of the IT sector’s carbon footprint performed to date have varied widely in their methodology and scope. One of the most recognized estimates of the IT sector’s footprint was conducted as part of the 2008 SMART 2020 study, which established that the sector is responsible for 2% of global GHG emissions.
The combined electricity demand of the internet/cloud (data centers and telecommunications network) globally in 2007 was approximately 623bn kWh (if the cloud were a country, it would have the fifth largest electricity demand in the world). Based on current projections, the demand for electricity will more than triple to 1,973bn kWh (an amount greater than combined total demand of France, Germany, Canada and Brazil).
The report indicates that, due to the economic downturn and continued energy efficiency and performance improvements, global energy demand from data centers from 2005-2010 increased by 56%. Estimates of data center electricity demand come in at 31GW globally, with an increase of 19% in 2012 alone. At the same time global electricity consumption is otherwise essentially flat due to the global recession is still a staggering rate of growth.
Given the scale of predicted growth, the source of electricity must be factored into a meaningful definition of “green IT”. Energy efficiency alone will, at best, slow the growth of the sector’s footprint. The replacement of dirty sources of electricity with clean renewable sources is still the crucial missing link in the sector’s sustainability efforts according to the report.
The global telecoms sector is also growing rapidly. Rapid growth in use of smart phones and broadband mobile connections mean mobile data traffic in 2011 was eight times the size of the entire internet in 2000. It is estimated that global mobile data traffic grew 133% in 2011, with 597 petabytes of data sent by mobiles every month. In 2011, it is estimated that 6 billion people or 86.7% of the entire global population have mobile telephone subscriptions. By the end of 2012, the number of mobile connected devices is expected to exceed the global population. Electronic devices and the rapidly growing cloud that supports our demand for greater online access are clearly a significant force in driving global energy demand.
What about telecoms in the developing and newly industrialized countries? The report has some details from India (by the way it is expected that India will pass China to become the world’s largest mobile market in terms of subscriptions in 2012). Much of the growth in the Indian telecom sector is from India’s rural and semi-urban areas. By 2012, India is likely to have 200 million rural telecom connections at a penetration rate of 25%. Out of the existing 400,000 mobile towers, over 70% exist in rural and semi-urban areas where either grid-connected electricity is not available or the electricity supply is irregular. As a result, mobile towers and, increasingly, grid-connected towers in these areas rely on diesel generators to power their network operations. The consumption of diesel by the telecoms sector currently stands at a staggering 3bn liters annually, second only to the railways in India.
What is the case on other developing and newly industrialized countries? I don’t actually know.
NOTE: Please note that that many figures given on the report are just estimates based on quite little actual data, so they might be somewhat off the actual figures. Given the source of the report I would quess that if the figures are off, they are most probably off to direction so that the environmental effect looks bigger than it actually is.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Akshat Rathi / Bloomberg:
Google says it has stopped purchasing carbon offsets and is no longer maintaining operational carbon neutrality, but still aims to reach net-zero carbon by 2030
Google Is No Longer Claiming to Be Carbon Neutral
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-08/google-is-no-longer-claiming-to-be-carbon-neutral
The tech giant, which has seen its planet-warming emissions rise because of artificial intelligence, has stopped buying cheap offsets behind the neutrality claim. The company now aims to reach net-zero carbon by 2030.
Google has ended its mass purchase of cheap carbon offsets and thus stopped claiming that its operations are carbon neutral, according to the tech giant’s latest environmental report. The company now aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
The Alphabet Inc. unit has claimed that it’s been carbon neutral in its operations since 2007. The status was based on purchasing carbon offsets to match the volume of emissions that were generated from its buildings, data centers and business travel. But in its latest report, the company states: “Starting in 2023, we’re no longer maintaining operational carbon neutrality.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16424-datakeskuksista-kasvaa-500-miljardin-jaettibisnes-saehkoensaannista-tulee-ongelma
Palvelinkeskusteollisuus on kovassa kasvussa tekoälyn käytön lisääntyessä. Stocklytics.comin mukaan palvelinkeskusten liikevaihto ylittää 500 miljardia dollaria vuoteen 2027 mennessä.
Analyytikko Edith Readsin mukaan kasvuun on monia syitä. Useampi monipilviratkaisujen käyttöönotto edistää datakeskusten laajentumista. Myös 5G:tä tukevat verkkopäivitykset myötävaikuttavat tähän kasvuun. Lisäksi hyperskaalaajien laajentamisaloitteilla on merkittävä rooli.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Vies for Nuclear-Powered Data Center The deal has become a flash point over energy fairness
https://spectrum.ieee.org/amazon-data-center-nuclear-power
When Amazon Web Services paid US $650 million in March for another data center to add to its armada, the tech giant thought it was buying a steady supply of nuclear energy to power it, too. The Susquehanna Steam Electric Station outside of Berick, Pennsylvania, which generates 2.5 gigawatts of nuclear energy, sits adjacent to the humming data center and had been directly powering it since the center opened in 2023.
After striking the deal, Amazon wanted to change the terms of its original agreement to buy 180 megawatts of additional power directly from the nuclear plant. Susquehanna agreed to sell it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Camilla Hodgson / Financial Times:
FOI docs: water consumption by data centers in Virginia, home to world’s largest cluster of data centers, reached 1.85B+ gallons in 2023, up from 1.13B in 2019
US tech groups’ water consumption soars in ‘data centre alley’
Usage has increased by almost two-thirds since 2019 in the world’s largest concentration of computing infrastructure
https://www.ft.com/content/1d468bd2-6712-4cdd-ac71-21e0ace2d048
Tomi Engdahl says:
Washington Post:
Inside Equinix’s 114,300-square-foot data center in Northern Virginia, a region that is home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world — We toured a facility in Northern Virginia to see how it works and to understand why water use and energy consumption are such a concern.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2024/data-centers-tour-northern-virginia/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzI2ODkxMjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzI4MjczNTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MjY4OTEyMDAsImp0aSI6ImM4NmMzNzdmLWZlODEtNDE3Yi04YTgwLTk0NWNkMzU0ZTgxNiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9kYy1tZC12YS9pbnRlcmFjdGl2ZS8yMDI0L2RhdGEtY2VudGVycy10b3VyLW5vcnRoZXJuLXZpcmdpbmlhLyJ9.1a1rELwzZD77EzAfU62E12POwGahohlSeCAxvOgqYwg&itid=gfta
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16674-google-kuluttaa-enemmaen-saehkoeae-kuin-moni-valtio
Tomi Engdahl says:
Datakeskuksien sähköntarve voi johtaa energiapulaan. Tekoäly kasvattaa sähkönkulutusta räjähdysmäisesti, Gartner arvioi.
Raju ennnuste: Sähkönkulutus räjähtää käsiin, datakeskuksia uhkaa energiapula
7.12.202417:30
Sähkö
Tekoäly
Digitalous
Energia
Datakeskuksien sähköntarve voi johtaa energiapulaan. Tekoäly kasvattaa sähkönkulutusta räjähdysmäisesti, Gartner arvioi.
https://www.uusisuomi.fi/uutiset/us/6dcf9eef-678a-46f6-b24d-87548d17b0de?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1Bei2Hg6MBhnmFNjq4ioselTyBfgSNOAEcmdImnse1955O6ru6HSx7rfs_aem_10JXPpXf99lP7o9pFg_fhw#Echobox=1733586081
40 prosenttia datakeskuksista tulee olemaan toimintarajoitteisia vuoteen 2027 mennessä, kertoo konsulttiyhtiö Gartner. Tilanne johtuu tekoälyn kasvattamasta sähkönkulutuksesta.
Gartner arvioi, että tekoälyyn optimisoitujen datakeskuksien tarvitsema teho on 500 terawattituntia vuodessa vuonna 2027. Datakeskukset tarvitsivat vain 195 terawattituntia vuodessa viime vuonna. Gartnerin analyytikko Bob Johnson kertoo, että datakeskuksien vaatima sähköntarve tulee ylittämään sähkölaitosten kyvyn laajentaa kapasiteettiaan riittävän nopeasti.
Päivän politiikan aiheet kätevässä paketissa – Tilaa Uuden Suomen maksuton uutiskirje
”Tämä puolestaan uhkaa häiritä energian saatavuutta ja johtaa energiapulaan, mikä rajoittaa datakeskusten kasvua vuodesta 2026 alkaen”, Johnson kertoo Gartnerin analyysissa.
Gartner Predicts Power Shortages Will Restrict 40% of AI Data Centers By 2027
Sydney, Australia, November 12, 2024
Rapid Growth in Energy Consumption For GenAI Will Exceed Power Utilities’ Capacity
AI and generative AI (GenAI) are driving rapid increases in electricity consumption, with data center forecasts over the next two years reaching as high as 160% growth, according to Gartner, Inc. As a result, Gartner predicts 40% of existing AI data centers will be operationally constrained by power availability by 2027.
https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-11-12-gartner-predicts-power-shortages-will-restrict-40-percent-of-ai-data-centers-by-20270
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dina Bass / Bloomberg:
Microsoft unveils a data center design that uses zero water for cooling, down from the 125M+ liters per year a typical center uses, rolling out since August
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-09/microsoft-unveils-zero-water-data-centers-to-reduce-ai-climate-impact