Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 44 | Page 21

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WHY ENERGY STRATEGY IS KEY TO DATA CENTRE GROWTH

Introduction
The global pandemic and resulting lockdown have brought society ’ s growing dependence on data into sharp focus . Whether due to remote working or home entertainment , the increase in video streaming alone caused a 40 % surge in data between February and April 2020 .
Even before lockdown , our data consumption was on a well-established long-term growth trajectory . Gartner predicts that 30 % of the workforce will be working from home by 2024 . Data centre electricity use is likely to increase about fifteen-fold by 2030 to 8 % of projected total global electricity demand .
To meet this increase in electricity use , and keep carbon emissions to a minimum , data centre operators need an energy strategy now more than ever .
Business drivers
Climate change . Without action , more data will lead to more emissions
When we think about industrial greenhouse gas emissions , we usually think of traditional carbonintensive sectors like transport , agriculture or construction . But data centres and network communications companies are consuming everincreasing amounts of energy . Data centres use an estimated 200 TWh each year , creating CO 2 equivalent to 0.3 % of the world ’ s carbon emissions . This may seem small , but the Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) ecosystem as a whole ( including personal digital devices , mobile-phone networks and televisions ) accounts for more than 2 % of global emissions . Meanwhile , ICT energy consumption is increasing by 9 % every year . p
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