Circular economy round-up in the Data Center industry – Q2

The Data Center industry is fast paced, innovative and exciting. Our industry morphs with each introduction of new technology, often improving energy efficiency and processing power of hardware, as it is one of the missions of technology vendors. However, an ongoing mission is sustainability: how can we, as an industry, cut down our carbon footprint and aim for a fully circular economy? 

Closing off an exciting second quarter, we’ve seen some interesting reports and initiatives demonstrating the ongoing efforts of the Data Center industry to be more sustainable.

Some sustainability highlights of H1, 2022

– The Dutch Data Center Association reports that “90% of all energy consumed by colocation Data Centers in The Netherlands in 2022 is green, compared to 88% in 2021” 

– This green energy is partly powered by wind or solar power produced domestically, as well as alternate green sources. Their aim is for The Netherlands to achieve a 99% green energy consumption rate by 2027, with most of their green energy being produced domestically. 

– Advancements in battery technology over the next 5 years could be a powerful catalyst for reaching this level, providing a means of storing green energy throughout seasons of lower availability of wind, solar or hydro power. 

– Heat re-use has been a consistent theme and focal point this year with projects conceived with heat waste management systems in place as a standard sustainability practice.

– As of the start of 2022, Equinix begins to tie executive compensation to ESG performance.

– Digital Realty signed contracts for 158MW of renewable energy in California and Georgia, USA, as part of their strategy to reduce their carbon footprint and lowering their Scope 1 and 2 emissions. 

– Africa Data Centres Association has presented a 5-point sustainability plan which includes the promotion of using on-site renewable energy generation, such as solar, wind and hydro, as well as building a continental code of conduct of continuous improvement. 

CIRKLA’s position on sustainability

Our marketplace has been designed with one purpose in mind: enabling sustainaibility by facilitating the sales of second hand Data Center hardware. End-of-lifecycle planning is not yet a mainstream sustainability initiative within the Data Center and IT sectors, which is where we want to extend our support.

We provide a complete decommissioning and removal solution for end-of-life assets which need to be replaced. By finding a buyer for these assets, we can reduce the carbon emissions of our industry while also reducing waste sent to landfill, as well as recovering the costs of decommissioning. Our model can easily be implemented in end-of-life planning, taking the work off the hands of the owners of these assets.

Feel free to contact us today to find out more and join our mission towards a more sustainable future!