Dr Doug Specht, Chartered Geographer, Senior Lecturer, and the Director of Teaching and Learning at Westminster School of Media and Communication, was quoted in an article by RTÉ Ireland's National Public Service Media, titled Data Centres: A View From Europe.
The article discusses digitalisation in Europe, how data centres and the green transition can co-exist, and the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, an initiative launched in 2021 aiming to make data centres in Europe climate-neutral by 2030.
Dr Specht talked about his research that focuses on the data ethics of humanitarianism and climate change. He brings up the example of Stockholm data centres, supplying around 10% of total heating demand.
"First, this is a good capture of otherwise wasted energy, and having data centres near urban centres actually makes a lot of sense for lots of reasons – putting everything in Iceland or other cold climates is not a direct solution. Secondly, if this is run on renewables to begin with, then you are really reaping benefits across the board," said Dr Specht.
According to Dr Specht, data centres ensure to be as efficient as possible, both in their data processing and the performance of their cooling systems. The aim is to reduce costs, improve speeds of performance, and reduce energy consumption. He explains that demand will increase as more people connect to the internet globally, storing and processing data digitally. Dr Specht also highlights that renewable energies are limited and shouldn’t necessarily be used predominantly in data centres.
"It is no good only powering the data centres this way, that allows companies to ‘greenwash’ themselves while gobbling up all the renewable energy at the expense of other sectors. Countries like the UK looking to fracking to solve energy security is a completely backwards step. The Swedish model uses heat pump technology – again, the UK’s objection to this technology is another step back." said Dr Specht.
In addition, he proposes regulating online advertising, which would reduce the demand for data and the consumption of goods, decreasing resource depletion and climate change. In the meantime, Dr Specht suggests focusing on energy powered by renewables and reusing as much heat generated by data centres as possible.
Read the full article on RTÉ Ireland's National Public Service Media.
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