6 ways data centres can cut their emissions — without compromising the AI boom

The clock is ticking and the thermometer is rising. The climate crisis demands immediate and decisive action.

Real, measurable results are now all that matters – and IT service providers are on the frontlines of this battle. The exponential growth of data and the insatiable need for computing power have shifted the focus to energy-guzzling data centres, which even before the AI boom were leaving an ever larger carbon footprint.

While promising unprecedented innovation, GenAI (Generative AI) models are also resource-hungry. Data centres and data transmission networks are already responsible for 1% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Data centre electricity usage is expected to double by 2026, and AI is set to generate a 160% increase in demand for data centre power.

What’s more, nearly two-thirds of organizations globally plan to invest significantly in GenAI in the next two years, and more than 90% are assessing enterprise-wide opportunities to use GenAI.

IT service providers therefore have a dual responsibility: addressing the existing sustainability challenges of their industry while keeping emerging technologies from worsening the climate crisis.

As a major data centre services provider, NTT DATA has identified solutions to make this part of the business as sustainable as possible. The company’s experiences can offer guidance to others seeking to cut down their greenhouse gas emissions in data centres.

Here are six ways to ensure the growth in data centres around the world does not come at the cost of the planet:

1. Implement direct-to-chip liquid cooling and immersion cooling: These thermal management techniques dissipate heat from high-performance computing systems. Direct-to-chip liquid cooling involves circulating a coolant directly through microchannels or cold plates attached to the heat-generating components. In contrast, immersion cooling submerges servers or electronic components in a dielectric fluid that absorbs and transfers heat away.

2. Switch to renewable energy and use power more efficiently: Renewable energy sources like solar, wind and hydro power are cleaner. When secured via a power purchase agreement (PPA), these also provide long-term cost stability by shielding data centres from volatile fossil-fuel prices. Investing in additional PPAs, which involve building new power plants, adds more renewable energy to the market.

Meanwhile, a lower power usage effectiveness factor (PUE) shows that a higher proportion of a data centre’s energy is dedicated to productive computing tasks, reducing operational costs and the carbon footprint of the cooling infrastructure. Replacing outdated equipment with energy-efficient options is one way of lowering a data centre’s PUE.

3. Use cleaner fuel sources: Generators are crucial for providing power to data centres during contingencies like grid outages. Emissions from these backup systems can be reduced by switching from traditional fuels to cleaner fuel sources, like hydrotreated vegetable oil.

4. Conserve water: Major water consumers in data centres are systems that cool air by evaporating water. Water improves the efficiency of these systems by reducing the electricity needed to run compressors in chillers, thereby also lowering carbon emissions. Evaporative systems should only be installed where water supplies are sufficient and sustainable – and run in hybrid mode where possible, to use less water in winter and less electricity in summer.

5. Conserve water: Major water consumers in data centres are systems that cool air by evaporating water. Water improves the efficiency of these systems by reducing the electricity needed to run compressors in chillers, thereby also lowering carbon emissions. Evaporative systems should only be installed where water supplies are sufficient and sustainable – and run in hybrid mode where possible, to use less water in winter and less electricity in summer.

5. Beat the heat: The heat generated by IT equipment in data centres has reuse potential, either internally or for external applications like district heating grids. Given the data centre lifecycle of 30–50 years, reusing waste heat can lower greenhouse gas emissions in a neighborhood by getting rid of fossil-fuel use for heating.

6. Focus on recycling and disposal: Responsible hardware recycling cuts e-waste and saves resources. Valuable materials can be reused, reducing the need for raw material extraction; proper disposal keeps dangerous substances from polluting the environment.

A hands-on approach

NTT DATA, the third-largest data centre provider with over 50 data centres in more than 20 countries and regions, has embarked on a range of initiatives globally to make its data centres more sustainable.

For example, it was the first to deploy direct-to-chip liquid cooling and immersion cooling in India, improving the PUE in a client’s area to 1.2-1.25 – a significant improvement on the region’s average PUE.

At its Berlin 2 Data Centre, NTT DATA works with an energy supplier and the operator of the Marienpark district to transfer waste heat and provide carbon-free heating and warm water to more than 1,000 buildings, with plans to increase the current thermal power equivalent of 2MW to up to 37MW in the future.

The company has also invested in wind and solar power plants in India and contracted various PPAs in Europe, which together will bring 1.7TWh of renewable energy to its data centres by 2026, and it is cutting water use by 30 million liters per year at the Hemel Hempstead 3 Data Centre in the UK through a reverse-osmosis plant.

NTT DATA's work to reduce the carbon impact of its data centres offers a case study to other providers of any size on how to cut emissions from data centres without compromising the crucial role they play in the global economy today.