CREDIT: ROMAN NURUTDINOV VIA GETTY IMAGES
CUTTING WATER CONSUMPTION BY HALF: TWO CASE STUDIES
“ When we think about onsite power, it’ s not just gas, there are renewables and battery storage. There are options that are non-emitting or low emitting... it becomes the data centre operator’ s choice on how they set it up.”
Indeed, tech providers are rapidly decarbonising their onsite offerings. Mandar highlights GE Vernova’ s focus on future-proofing its technology:“ Sustainability is definitely at the core of our strategy. For example, we just completed 100 % hydrogen capability testing. Also, we are working on the first commercial carbon capture project on the UK side... we’ re working on post-combustion decarbonisation technologies, and a lot of research and development is going into our advanced gas turbine portfolio.”
To illustrate the gap between aircooled( traditional) and liquid-cooled facilities, Schneider Electric presented two theoretical case studies based on data and projections for data centres in Dallas, Texas and Paris, France.
The projections demonstrate that transitioning to liquid cooling can slash annual water consumption by roughly half.
For instance, the projected water usage for the Dallas data centre reduced from 382,000 cubic meters per year using traditional air cooling to 197,000 cubic meters with liquid cooling – a 48 % reduction.
Similarly, the Paris facility dropped from 108,000 cubic metres to 51,000 cubic metres, representing a 53 % savings.
“ It’ s a choice to how you reject the heat and the myth that all data centres with liquid cooling are using lots of water, isn’ t true,” says Tuan.“ We focus on high-efficiency chilling.”
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