silicon republic
Summary
The topic of data centres has been highly discussed as of late. As the world continues its digitalisation journey and further embraces disruptive tech like generative AI, the demand for data centre capacity continues to grow to accommodate vast data requirements.
The growth of data centres has sparked numerous debates, such as the effect of these centres on the energy grid and the efforts to balance the need for data centre capacity with climate responsibilities.
On the other side, recent efforts have looked at the potential for utilising excess energy from these centres for sustainable means. A study from last year suggested that 97pc of energy consumed by a data centre could be recovered as heat.
Data centre company Equinix has been deploying a process with similar concepts, called district heating. According to Peter Lantry, managing director for Equinix Ireland, district heating – also known as heat export – is “the provision of excess data centre heat to heating networks in towns and cities that transport that heat to a range of buildings who can make use of the heat”. Lantry says that through this process, buildings such as houses, businesses and community facilities like swimming pools can avail of this heat.
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