Sustainability

How AI Is Driving Data Center Transformation - Part 2

As enterprises embark on their AI journeys, the volume of high-performance computing and AI workloads is expected to increase significantly. Since these workloads are likely to be processed on the cloud, data center companies are forming partnerships with NVIDIA and adding GPUs by the truckload. But more GPUs mean more power, and more power means more CO2 emissions.

See Also: How to Attract and Nurture Talent in a Tough Hiring Environment

In Part 1 of this series, we explored how data center companies ramp up infrastructure to process compute-intensive HPC and AI workloads. Part 2 will explore how data centers are addressing the need for more power and cooling while managing environmental impact.

"We’re seeing the demand for data centers, driven by generative AI and other AI workloads, across most major verticals, particularly across financial services, healthcare, gaming, e-commerce applications, education, manufacturing and technology " said Jon Lin, executive vice president and general manager of data center services at Equinix.

Power Guzzlers

According to a Morgan Stanley research, the surge in data centers is projected to generate approximately 2.5 billion metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions worldwide by the end of the decade, driving increased investments in decarbonization initiatives.

A Goldman Sachs Research report predicted AI will drive a 160% increase in data center power demand by 2030. By then, global data centers will consume 8% of total U.S. power demand, compared to 3% currently. Data centers are estimated to use at least 2% of global energy - as much as the aviation industry.

A 2024 report from the International Energy Agency, IEA, states energy demand at data centers could potentially double from 2022 levels by 2026 due to rapid AI advances. The report forecasts that electricity consumption from data centers in the European Union in 2026 will be 30% higher than 2023 levels, as new data facilities are commissioned amid increased digitalization and AI computations.

India is also seeing huge demand for data centers due to digitalization of public goods and citizen services. There is also demand from the private industry and regulators that data is stored within India's national boundaries. With a growing data center footprint, the aggregated power needs of the Indian data center industry are expected to cross 1,300 mW by the end of 2024, up from 1,084 mW at the end of 2023.

CB Velayuthan, chief executive officer at Digital Connexion, told ISMG the average power requirement per rack was four to five kW. But that increased to 20 - 30 kW per rack. "We have seen higher densities like 70 kW per rack," he said.

Digital Connexion is a joint venture between Brookfield Asset Management, Reliance Industries and Digital Realty.

To put this in perspective, a typical hyperscaler (a data center that can scale up its resources on demand) consumes enough electricity to power a small town. On average, a ChatGPT query needs nearly 10 times as much electricity as a Google search.

The vast power consumption has resulted in increased CO2 emissions. The IEA states data centers and transmission networks are responsible for 1% of energy-related CHG emissions.

So, what are data center providers doing on this front?

Sustainability Goals

While AI is driving power requirements and, ultimately, the need for sustainable energy solutions, it can also help data centers achieve sustainability.

AI is both "the disease and the cure," said Jo Debecker, managing partner and global head - Wipro FullStride Cloud, a system integrator that helps businesses in their cloud journeys.

"We have technologies such as AI-driven predictive maintenance, AI-powered energy management within data centers, virtualization and software-defined data centers," he said.

Most global data center providers have sustainability goals, and many have made significant progress.

One way to lower carbon emissions is to extend the life of the product in the data center, said Jake Blough, CTO at Service Express, a data center solutions provider specializing in multivendor maintenance, hybrid cloud and managed infrastructure services.

"The bulk of carbon emissions comes from the manufacturing and transport of the product," he said. "A company can show more progress in carbon avoidance or total carbon emission by extending equipment life across the board instead of upgrading to a newer energy-efficient model."

In its report titled "Sustainability in the Era of AI," The Princeton Digital Group reported its goal of achieving Net Zero for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030, and the company's initiation of Scope 3 emissions reporting.

Key achievements highlighted in the 2023-2024 ESG report include:

• Progress on net zero road map: PDG met its goal of offsetting approximately 15% of its carbon footprint through renewable energy procurement.
• Renewable energy: The company entered long-term agreements to procure solar power for its data center in Mumbai, India, and biomass power for its data center campus in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia. The company also installed solar rooftop panels at its facility in Shanghai, China.
• ISO 45001 certification: All greenfield operational data centers achieved ISO 45001 certification, ensuring rigorous management of occupational health and safety risks.
• Advanced cooling technologies: PDG adopted advanced cooling technologies and other energy efficiency initiatives to improve power usage effectiveness.
• Green finance framework: PDG developed its green finance framework and secured $375 million in green loans for its SG+ projects in Singapore and Johor in early 2024.

At its 47th annual general meeting, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, announced a gigawatt-scale, AI-ready data center powered entirely by its green energy initiatives. Called the Jio Brain initiative, it will include a robust suite of AI tools and platforms that cover the entire AI life cycle. The initiative is designed to accelerate AI adoption across Jio's extensive network, enabling quicker decision-making, more accurate predictions, and a deeper understanding of customer preferences.

"Powered entirely by Reliance's green energy, reflecting our commitment to sustainability and a greener future," he said.

Hyperscalers Go Carbon Neutral

The hyperscalers also have plans to become carbon neutral.

AWS' sustainability efforts include enhancing energy efficiency, transitioning to renewable energy, reducing embodied carbon, using water responsibly, driving a circular economy, and enabling customer sustainability.

In 2019, the company set an ambitious goal to match 100% of the electricity it consumes with renewable energy by 2030. It claimed to have achieved this goal in 2023, seven years early, with 100% of the electricity consumed by Amazon matched with renewable energy sources, up from 90% in 2022.

Google claims that in 2022, it achieved 64% carbon-free energy globally, on an hourly basis. It said the performance varied widely by region, with seven of its sites achieving at least 90% carbon-free energy, and13 achieving at least 85%.

Between 2010 to 2023, Google signed more than 115 agreements totaling over 14 GW of clean energy generation capacity - the equivalent of more than 36 million solar panels. Now, in its third decade of climate action, it has set a goal to run on 24/7 carbon-free energy on every grid where it operates by 2030.

In the third and final part of this series on data centers, we shall examine some of the innovative cooling technologies used in modern data centers.