Sustainable standards for data centers

Artificial intelligence has already become, directly or indirectly, part of our everyday lives. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and artificially generated images. Terra Mater Studios is now labeling its nature films with an “AI-free” label. The increasing use of AI-supported applications is causing a steep rise in power consumption.

In Germany alone, data centers consume around 26 terawatt hours per year, which equals about five percent of Germany’s total electricity consumption. According to forecasts, this share could double by 2030. In addition to the high energy demands, which is partly supplied by fossil fuels, the cooling of data centers also requires large amounts of water.

In the US, resistance is already growing in states from Arizona to Maryland to the construction of hyperscale data centers that are literally usurping the population’s water supply. Data centers must not become a burden to either climate or society”, emphasizes Jens Gröger, research coordinator for sustainable digital infrastructures at the Öko-Institut. “Instead, they must make their own active contribution to sustainable development.”

The Öko-Institut recommends minimum standards for the German government’s national data center strategy. These include sustainable site selection, the use of efficient technology, as well as electricity sourced solely from renewables. “Data centers of the future must be economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable”, says Gröger. For example, waste heat should be fed into local heating networks to replace fossil fuel heating systems.

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