Member Commentary: Data centers can transform and drive sustainability

The rise of the internet and digitalization has driven an economywide, systems-level seismic shift, forever altering social relationships, global connectivity, communications and governance. Data centers are the foundation of this digital transformation.

Data centers, facilities that house equipment for storing, processing and disseminating data quickly and reliably, handle vast amounts of information that impacts our daily activities. But more than that, with the ever-increasing demand for digital services and the explosion of data-driven businesses, data centers are the engine of our modern economy.

We cannot live without data centers; however, more work is needed to ensure our digital transformation does not come at the expense of our natural environment.

As industry leaders, Intel and Dell Technologies were among the first to develop microprocessors and server platforms that power data centers. And as the need for more data (and data centers) grew, computing hardware, networking and server technology evolved. Our companies engineered solutions to meet those challenges. As the United States pursues meaningful actions to address climate change, we are equally committed to improving data center equipment design and utilizing data centers to drive sustainability across industries.

Data centers’ environmental footprints

Data centers consume an enormous amount of energy and significantly impact the environment. In 2021, the International Energy Agency estimated that data center electricity usage accounted for 1% to 1.5% of global electricity demand. Similarly, data centers and their data transmission networks are responsible for nearly 1% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Data centers also consume millions of gallons of water, both directly and indirectly, from about 90% of U.S. watersheds.

We must advance efforts to minimize data centers’ environmental footprints. Recognizing these environmental challenges, Intel and Dell Technologies, alongside data center operators, are working to reduce data centers’ physical and environmental footprints and improve overall sustainability.

Improving data centers’ sustainability

It is also imperative that efforts to minimize data centers' environmental footprints also maximize their beneficial “handprints.” As the driver of information and communication technologies, or ICT, data centers have a positive handprint impact on the energy, buildings, travel, transportation, and additional sectors, helping them reduce their energy, water and environmental footprints.

While helping other industries reduce their environmental footprint, ICT companies are also working to improve data centers’ sustainability. Data centers that utilize immersion and liquid cooling can significantly reduce energy, cooling and water usage. Last year, Intel developed the tech industry's first open intellectual property immersion liquid cooling solution and specification reference design.

Data centers are also becoming more energy efficient, even as data demand grew over the past 25 years and global internet traffic more than tripled over the past five years. Despite increasing data demands, improvements in servers, chips and other hardware, as well as shifting from smaller data centers to more efficient hyperscale data centers, drove data centers to become more energy efficient. Furthermore, with the emergence of artificial intelligence capabilities, data center energy consumption can now be intelligently monitored and controlled to further reduce electricity use.

Dell Technologies recently launched its next-generation PowerEdge servers, which help data centers power their demanding workloads with greater energy efficiency. Now, one PowerEdge server has the computing power of six 2013 servers, reducing data centers’ physical and environmental footprints.

Data centers can drive sustainability

We are proud to be members of the Digital Climate Alliance, a coalition of companies dedicated to leading the public policy discussion on digitalization for decarbonization. While Intel and Dell Technologies will keep striving to improve data centers’ sustainability, industry cannot do it alone.

As the demand for data centers grows, a recent white paper explores opportunities for the federal government to develop policies to improve their sustainability. These policies should drive energy efficiency, heat reuse, sustainable water sourcing, increased generation and adoption of clean energy as well as support research on alternative cooling methods and other aspects of data center sustainability. The federal government should also work with data centers to encourage reporting on key performance indicators, develop performance standards and promote a circular economy.

Our increasingly interconnected world cannot live without data centers. As such, we need to ensure that data centers drive long-term sustainability solutions, enabling us to be good stewards of the environment.

Shahid Sheikh is director of product energy efficiency and sustainability policy at Intel Corp. Sheikh can be reached at shahid.a.sheikh@intel.com.

John Pflueger is the principal environmental strategist at Dell Technologies. Pflueger can be reached at john.pflueger@dell.com.