Data centres: Balancing AI needs with sustainability

 

If AI has worsened an energy and emissions problem, it may also be helping solve it in a proverbial double-edged sword. In particular, the AI factor could help in data centre management, which requires sensors and cooling systems

New Delhi: In 2016, Facebook flipped the switch at its Luleå data centre facility on the edge of the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, utilising freezing cold arctic air and hydroelectric plants as renewable power sources. Microsoft’s Project Natick shifted data centres underwater, but after nine years of trying 117 feet below the North Sea, the company shut down that experiment last summer.

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) experiences added to the demand for more computing power and data processing. Khalid Wani, senior director for sales in India at Western Digital, told HT, “AI is now essential in data centre operations through machine learning and predictive analytics. It’s for real-time infrastructure monitoring, proactive issue identification, resource optimisation, and equipment failure prediction.”

Statista Market Insights research estimated the global generative AI market would be worth $207 billion by 2030, up from $44.89 billion in 2023.

If AI has worsened an energy and emissions problem, it may also be helping solve it in a proverbial double-edged sword. In particular, the AI factor could help in data centre management, which requires sensors and cooling systems. Wani added that a reduction in errors means more efficiency because of “reduced downtime and enhanced security via threat detection.”

Data centres could be cooled using various methods, including perimeter cooling, close-coupled cooling, and newer direct liquid cooling (DLC) methods. According to the Uptime Institute’s 2023 Global Data Center Survey, 56% of 1,575 surveyed data centres globally still relied on perimeter cooling, but they believed the continued increase in silicon power would necessitate a switch to DLC methods.

Newer generation AI-optimised chips played a crucial role. Google confirmed in its latest sustainability report that Trillium, its sixth-generation Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), was 67% more energy-efficient than its predecessor.

Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer at Google, said, “A Google-owned and operated data centre is, on average, approximately 1.8 times as energy efficient as a typical enterprise data centre. In 2023, the average annual power usage effectiveness for our data centres was 1.10.”

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