EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
Climate change is one of the most critical challenges the world faces today . Various research and studies have confirmed that the average global temperatures have increased over time . This has been evident with countries across the globe experiencing heatwaves , wildfires , drought and scorching conditions , with many places recording temperatures hotter than in the Arabian Gulf .
The UAE is known for experiencing sweltering temperatures with dry and humid weather in the summer . This year in particular , the UAE has recorded its highest temperature this season attesting to the new climatic realities .
Just like sun exposure can have serious health consequences , working at high temperatures can reduce the reliability and durability of data centre components , which can lead to further complications further down the line . There are a variety of ways that data centres can make an environmentally positive impact . From indirect opportunities to influence the development of hosting platforms that can accurately combine weather forecasts , patterns of usage and demand , and capabilities such as load shedding , to specific actions including leveraging large , onsite energy storage solutions providing flexible , instantaneous power sources , or even utilising waste energy in the form of heat to displace local energy demand .
At Equinix , we are designing to future-proof sites and services to meet evolving environments . Equinix has partnered with various organisations to develop and demonstrate low-environmentalimpact fuel cells that provide economic and resilient prime power solutions for data centres . The project will integrate solid-oxide fuel cells ( SOFC ) with uninterruptible power supply ( UPS ) technology and Lithium-ion batteries to provide resilient and clean primary power to data centre deployments and other critical infrastructure .
Liquid cooling technologies provide an attractive alternative and Equinix is investing in research , testing and ecosystem partnerships to drive adoption of liquid cooling methods across our data centre footprint .
Equinix data centres include physical barriers that help contain cold air in supply aisles ( to keep data centre equipment cool and functioning properly ) and hot air in exhaust aisles ( to remove waste heat from the data centre as quickly as possible ). By minimising the amount of air mixing between the cold and hot aisles , we can ensure the most efficient distribution of cooling air possible and therefore minimise the amount of power dedicated to cooling .
In the past , traditional air-cooling methods were sufficient to fully meet the cooling needs of the data centre industry . However , as technology has advanced , the hardware needed to support that technology has increased in power density . This means that air cooling alone may no longer be enough , particularly in the case of new power-dense technologies like Artificial Intelligence ( AI ). Liquid cooling technologies provide an attractive alternative and Equinix is investing in research , testing and ecosystem partnerships to drive adoption of liquid cooling methods across our data centre footprint .
Equinix is committed to becoming climate-neutral and has set a science-based target for emissions reduction across its global operations and supply chain by 2030 . p
KAMEL AL-TAWIL , MANAGING DIRECTOR , MIDDLE EAST AND
NORTH AFRICA , EQUINIX
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