Cleaner, greener data centres

Abstract John Booth MBCS, Data Centre Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Consultant at Carbon3IT, explores the detrimental trajectory of data centre energy use, against a backdrop of COP26, climate change and proposed EU directives.

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Outcome expectancies moderate the association between worry about climate change and personal energy-saving behaviors

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0252105 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. e0252105

Author(s):

Thea Gregersen ◽

Rouven Doran ◽

Gisela Böhm ◽

Wouter Poortinga

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Energy Efficiency ◽

Energy Saving ◽

Energy Use ◽

European Social Survey ◽

Outcome Expectancies ◽

Outcome Expectancy ◽

Change Communication ◽

Change Beliefs ◽

Personal Energy

This paper explores whether efficacy beliefs can alter the relationship between worry about climate change and personal energy-saving behaviors, controlling for climate change beliefs and socio-demographics. For this purpose, we used data from 23 countries that participated in the European Social Survey Round 8 (N = 44 387). Worry about climate change, personal efficacy, personal outcome expectancy, and collective outcome expectancy were each associated with personal energy-saving behaviors concerning either energy curtailment or energy efficiency. The results further show that outcome expectancies moderate the association between worry about climate change and both types of energy behaviors. Worry was more strongly related to energy curtailment behaviors among those with high levels of personal and collective outcome expectancy. A similar pattern was found for energy efficiency behaviors, which were more strongly predicted by worry about climate change when combined with high levels of collective outcome expectancy. These findings are relevant for climate change communication, especially informational campaigns aiming to lower overall household energy use.

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Environmental Impact Assessment of Renovated Multi-Apartment Building Using LCA Approach: Case Study from Lithuania

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031542 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1542

Author(s):

Vidhyalakshmi Chandrasekaran ◽

Jolanta Dvarioniene ◽

Ausrine Vitkute ◽

Giedrius Gecevicius

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Energy Efficiency ◽

Energy Use ◽

Hot Water ◽

Environment Impact ◽

Total Energy Consumption ◽

Operational Energy ◽

Modernization Process ◽

The Impact ◽

Current Energy

In Europe, more than 75% of buildings are energy inefficient according to current energy standards. These buildings account for 40% of total energy consumption. Therefore, addressing the energy efficiency of existing buildings through various renovation measures remains of critical importance. In this study, two differently renovated multi-apartment buildings were selected to evaluate its environment impact using life cycle assessment. The buildings were built during the early 1980s, which did not meet the current energy efficiency standards. In recent times, these buildings were revised by Governmental agencies through the modernization process. The aim of the assessment is to study the environmental impacts associated with different renovation measures that has been carried out. This assessment covers the impact of new materials added, and the operational energy use. The study reveals that renovation stage accounts for 19% CO2 emission. The renovated buildings with renewable measures have a significant impact over climate change than the conventional renovation measures. Moreover, the potential savings in thermal energy used for space heating and domestic hot water preparation are 25% and 40% after conventional and renewable measures renovation, respectively. It was concluded that the total climate change potential could be reduced from 12% and 48% by retrofitting combined with renewable energy measures.

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Energy Efficiency or Conservation for Mitigating Climate Change?

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12183543 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (18) ◽

pp. 3543 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Patrick Moriarty ◽

Damon Honnery

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Energy Efficiency ◽

Nuclear Energy ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Energy Use ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

High Energy ◽

Passenger Transport ◽

Domestic Energy ◽

To Come

Given that global energy use today is still dominated by fossil fuels, there is an urgent need to rapidly reduce its use in order to avert serious climate change. However, the alternatives to fossil fuels—renewable and nuclear energy—are more expensive, and have so far done little to displace fossil fuels. Accordingly, reducing energy use must play an important part in both averting climate change and avoiding the depletion of high energy return easily recoverable fossil fuel reserves. This paper examined both the potential and barriers to the adoption of energy reduction measures, with particular attention to domestic energy and passenger transport. The main finding was that energy efficiency approaches alone are unlikely to deliver anywhere near the energy reductions needed in the limited time available. Instead, most energy reductions will have to come from energy conservation, involving less use of energy-using devices, including private vehicles. Achieving such reductions will require changes in lifestyles, especially for residents of OECD nations.

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Applying a Model of Technology Diffusion to Quantify the Potential Benefit of Improved Energy Efficiency in Data Centres

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14227699 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (22) ◽

pp. 7699

Author(s):

Bryan Coyne ◽

Eleanor Denny

Keyword(s):

Energy Efficiency ◽

Technology Diffusion ◽

Electricity Demand ◽

Level Energy ◽

Limited Information ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Low Carbon Economy ◽

Data Centre ◽

Data Centres ◽

Carbon Economy

Data centres are a key infrastructure for the global digital economy, helping enable the EU “Digital Decade” by 2030. In 2015, data centres were estimated to consume 2.5% of EU electricity demand. In Ireland, the concentrated presence of data centres could consume 37% of national electricity demand by 2028. The uncertainty of data centre facility-level energy efficiency paired with the need to achieve a low-carbon economy pose significant challenge for generation and transmission network planning. This is the first paper to apply a model of technology diffusion with a national forecast of changes in Irish data centre electricity demand through more efficient liquid cooling. The methodology serves as a technology-agnostic resource for practitioners performing forecasts under uncertainty with limited information. Results suggest that technology adoption could lower national electricity demand by 0.81% if adopted by new plant from 2019 to 2028. Savings rise to 3.16% over the same period if adopted by new and existing data centres. Adoption would also lower related emissions by 4.70% and 23.04% over the same period across both scenarios, respectively. Results highlight substantial potential electricity and associated emissions savings available in the sector and suggest policy options to support a transition towards a low-carbon economy.

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Strategies to Improve Urban Energy Efficiency for Urban Resilience

IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering ◽

10.1088/1757-899x/1203/2/022020 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1203 (2) ◽

pp. 022020

Author(s):

Yalim Gültekin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Energy Efficiency ◽

Renewable Energy ◽

Human Activities ◽

Urban Form ◽

Energy Use ◽

Building Design ◽

Urban Resilience ◽

Spatial Strategies ◽

Urban Energy

Abstract Greenhouse gas (GHG), which is a determining factor in climate change is a result of human activities, namely climate change is human-caused (anthropogenic). Cities, where 60% of the world's population of approximately 7.3 billion living today, are responsible for 60-80% consumption of energy, which is the lifeblood of intense human activities, thus at least 70% of GHG. Nevertheless, cities are the cause of climate change and other global environmental problems, as well as the innovation centres and laboratories to deal with their impact. With climate change becoming more explicit and active in the 21st century, researchers, governments and international institutions question cities’ strength/vulnerability against these problems, especially their energy production and consumption patterns that cause GHG, and they anticipate that urban resilience be the motivating force for urban policies. The widespread and effective use of renewable energy is regarded as an influential tool against climate change. However, this should be endorsed by spatial strategies. In the light of this approach, this study evaluates the urban form, building design and production technologies that are focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy use.

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Exploring Climate-Change Impacts on Energy Efficiency and Overheating Vulnerability of Bioclimatic Residential Buildings under Central European Climate

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13126791 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 6791

Author(s):

Luka Pajek ◽

Mitja Košir

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Energy Efficiency ◽

Energy Efficient ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Energy Use ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Building Design ◽

Temperate Climate ◽

Design Parameters ◽

Central European

Climate change is expected to expose the locked-in overheating risk concerning bioclimatic buildings adapted to a specific past climate state. The study aims to find energy-efficient building designs which are most resilient to overheating and increased cooling energy demands that will result from ongoing climate change. Therefore, a comprehensive parametric study of various passive building design measures was implemented, simulating the energy use of each combination for a temperate climate of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The approach to overheating vulnerability assessment was devised and applied using the increase in cooling energy demand as a performance indicator. The results showed that a B1 heating energy efficiency class according to the Slovenian Energy Performance Certificate classification was the highest attainable using the selected passive design parameters, while the energy demand for heating is projected to decrease over time. In contrast, the energy use for cooling is in general projected to increase. Furthermore, it was found that, in building models with higher heating energy use, low overheating vulnerability is easier to achieve. However, in models with high heating energy efficiency, very high overheating vulnerability is not expected. Accordingly, buildings should be designed for current heating energy efficiency and low vulnerability to future overheating. The paper shows a novel approach to bioclimatic building design with global warming adaptation integrated into the design process. It delivers recommendations for the energy-efficient, robust bioclimatic design of residential buildings in the Central European context, which are intended to guide designers and policymakers towards a resilient and sustainable built environment.

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Data centre sustainability – Beyond energy efficiency

Building Services Engineering Research and Technology ◽

10.1177/0143624417753022 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

pp. 173-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sophia Flucker ◽

Robert Tozer ◽

Beth Whitehead

Keyword(s):

Energy Efficiency ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Best Practice ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Lifecycle Assessment ◽

Data Centre ◽

Effective Manner ◽

Assessment Approach ◽

Corporate Social ◽

Data Centres

Data centres are large energy consumers, which have become more energy efficient in recent years due to increased awareness of opportunities, increasing energy costs and corporate social responsibility pressures. A lifecycle assessment approach identifies two other significant areas of impact: the embodied impact of IT equipment and mechanical and electrical plant, and the electricity source used in operational and embodied processes. Many data centre operators publicise their energy efficiency, some also report on their carbon footprint. However, there is a need for simple tools in order to help operators better understand and quantify the embodied impact and inform green procurement. Focussing purely on energy efficiency may cause a burden shift, e.g. by replacing equipment with more efficient equipment but increasing the embodied impact. The total environmental impact could remain the same/increase, but with the perception of a ‘greener’ data centre. Although currently there is limited data available for data centre life cycle assessments and the process is resource intensive, research has identified which factors significantly impact a facility’s environmental impact. This knowledge should be used in the design process and throughout the data centre lifecycle to minimise data centre environmental impact. Practical application: As the data centre industry continues to grow and its sustainability receives closer scrutiny, it is important to increase awareness of where its highest environment impacts lie and analyse the factors which influence this. This can help inform policy and decision-making to support the design and operation of data centres which are truly more sustainable. It is important that this research is not just theoretical but can translate into practical actions which can be implemented in a cost-effective manner for the benefit of everyone. The current focus in industry has been energy consumption and energy efficiency; many practices which were considered innovative a few years ago have now become standard best practice. It is time to examine which other areas should be prioritised for improvement.

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Local Policy for a Protected Environmental Area Management: The Case of Limiting Motorized Vehicles in Park of Canigou in Pyrenées Orientales

Advance in Environmental Waste Management & Recycling ◽

10.33140/aewmr.01.01.09 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Human Activities ◽

Energy Use ◽

Local Level ◽

Air Traffic ◽

Small Scale ◽

Individual Action ◽

Local Policy ◽

Motorized Vehicles ◽

Local Levels

“We regard the recent science –based consensual reports that climate change is, to a large extend, caused by human activities that emit green houses as tenable, Such activities range from air traffic, with a global reach over industrial belts and urban conglomerations to local small, scale energy use for heating homes and mowing lawns. This means that effective climate strategies inevitably also require action all the way from global to local levels. Since the majority of those activities originate at the local level and involve individual action, however, climate strategies must literally begin at home to hit home.”

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