Intelligent Data Centres Issue 33 | Page 22

INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE POWERED BY THE DCA
The World Green Building Council ( WGBC ) has stated that by 2030 , all new buildings should operate at net zero carbon and be net zero neutral by 2050 .
decarbonise the cement , steel and plastics industries ; shift to electric vehicles ; increase public transport ; decarbonise aviation and shipping ; halt deforestation and restore degraded lands ; reduce food loss and waste ; and eat more plants and less meat .
The World Green Building Council ( WGBC ) has stated that by 2030 , all new buildings should operate at net zero carbon and be net zero neutral by 2050 . The WGBC definition of a net zero building is one that is ‘ highly energy efficient with all remaining energy from on-site and / or off-site renewable sources ’.
What does this have to do with data centres ?
There is no doubt that the use of data centres is essential to modern life – we use them for a variety of services and they are without doubt the hubs of the digital highways that process , transit and store data globally . The use of data has contributed to our understanding of climate change and its effects , indeed the latest IPCC sixth AR report , Physical Science Basis , can only have been produced with reference to significant access to and the processing of data , collected globally .
However , at the time of writing , the sector is in a period of prolonged growth with a new project announced almost every day , which will only contribute to energy use and global warming . The question is , given the above net zero carbon goals , how can the data centre sector meet these requirements ?
Given that data centres are large energy users , and that significant amounts of materials are used in the construction , fit-
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