green IT
current power crisis continues, it is
predicted that there will be a 55 per
cent electricity supply gap by 2025.
The power grid – which has
become the central nervous system
of today’s data driven economy – is
also feeling the strain of rising data
loads. More and more business
decision makers are turning to green
resources to provide the electricity
they need to keep the lights on. But
are green energy resources actually
as green as is often promised?
‘Green’ isn’t always clean
Transitioning from fossil fuels to
renewable resources is not as easy
as it may sound – primarily due to the
intermittency of renewable energy
supplies. For example, wind and solar
power – two of the most commonly
used green resources – are heavily
reliant on fluctuating weather patterns
and strength of supply. Both are
therefore inconsistently efficient, with
periods where little to no energy is
produced, ie. at night, or when there
is little wind.
To keep things running, those
dips in energy production have to be
bridged with other power supplies
– often fossil backed generation
sources from a central power grid.
So, while investment in renewables
certainly helps to decarbonise the
power grid, their use within this kind
of integrated power system means
they cannot be considered 100 per
cent carbon free. Hence ‘green’ is
not always truly green.
The only locations where green
resources can be considered
completely carbon free are in regions
when the vast majority of power is
100 per cent renewably generated.
And there are only a handful of
electricity grids in the world where this
is the case.
Keep it cool
So what does the ideal storage
solution look like for CIOs searching
for abundant and reliable energy,
whilst improving (or retaining) their
green credentials? The answer
is simple: a location that is cost
effective, well connected, cold
and benefits from stable power
infrastructure. For many businesses,
this means relocating to one of the
handful of grids previously mentioned.
For this reason, recent years have
seen data centre providers and the
companies within their campuses
migrating north to naturally colder
regions such as Canada, parts of
the USA (ie. Washington State and
Montana) and the Nordics: including
Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland.
Here data centres benefit from
lower ambient temperatures, allowing
providers to utilise natural air to cool
servers at little to no cost, and with
zero emissions released. A win-win
for businesses in search of cost and
environmental efficiencies.
In addition, Iceland’s power grid is
ranked the lowest risk in the world –
currently operating at just 10 per cent
capacity, and to 4:9s of availability
(meaning it experiences an average of
just 52 minutes downtime a year, if at
all). Norway and Finland come a close
second and third.
These countries also happen to be
trailblazing innovations in renewable
energy, with Landsvirkjun (Iceland’s
National Power Company) planning
to develop up to 2,000MW of
additional renewable power capacity
– particularly geothermal, hydropower
and ground-breaking deep magma
drilling – between now and 2030.
So, while there are many theories
and opinions surrounding renewable
energy the only way to ensure your
business is 100 per cent carbon free
is to locate within a completely carbon
free grid. Iceland and the Nordics
are prime examples of regions that
benefit from sustainable, reliable
and renewable energy options –
representing the optimal location for
CIOs looking to take advantage of
affordable, green energy.
By getting to grips with the
differences between renewable and
100 per cent carbon free resources,
business decision makers will soon
see that green isn’t truly green, until
you head north...
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