Confronting Excess Data Centre Energy Use with 'Green' Code

As data centre businesses confront their increasing energy consumption and IT carbon footprint, the need for sustainable strategy has never been more urgent.

There is currently an increasing focus on environmental reporting, which has led data centre operators to view the effectiveness of their software efficiency. Computing facilities are having to document power usage effectiveness (PUE), with energy providers responding to supply chain disruptions by implementing new monitoring systems. 

These systems use machine learning algorithms to predict demand patterns and optimise power distribution across data centre infrastructure.

“In the energy sector, we have witnessed significant industry shifts driven by factors including international regulation updates, such as the Energy Act 2023, governmental pressures to achieve net-zero targets and geopolitical events such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupting supply chains,” Mark Robison says.

“These factors have forced energy providers to adapt their operations to balance supply and demand.” 

BJSS, the organisation Mark works with, has worked with a host of leading energy providers and utility businesses — including bp and Gunvor —  to help them adjust to these macro forces by supporting increased digitisation, improving customer experience with advanced data analytics or modernising their processes in the drive to operational efficiencies. 

In this interview, Mark shares how with the increasing energy consumption and carbon footprint of IT operations, organisations can implement strategies improving overall efficiency and supporting sustainability goals.

Given the recent increase in greenhouse gas emissions from major tech companies due to data centre expansion, what specific strategies can organisations implement to reduce the energy consumption of their IT operations?

Between 2015 and 2022, data centre workloads surged by 340%. To address this, tech companies are designing data storage systems that consume less power, require minimal cooling and generate less waste. 

For instance, the optimisation of cooling systems with advanced technologies like liquid cooling, which is more sustainable than current air cooling, can significantly cut energy usage. 

Liquid cooling is more sustainable because it provides more efficient heat transfer, leading to lower temperatures and reduced energy consumption. 

This efficiency allows for higher density server configurations and improved performance while minimising the risk of overheating. 

Furthermore, leveraging AI for dynamic resource management and predictive maintenance further drives efficiency. 

Businesses across all sectors can adopt a more sustainable approach by investing in advanced cloud infrastructure, which can reduce storage and processing demands.

How can companies embed energy-efficient data handling and coding practices within their existing software development lifecycle to make a significant impact on their carbon footprint?

Companies must adopt a holistic approach that integrates sustainability measures at every stage. 

In reality, this is achieved by writing and manipulating code to reduce energy consumption. By encouraging developers to employ efficient algorithms and clean coding techniques — practices that result in code that is easy to read, maintain and extend, such as using descriptive naming, avoiding redundant code and ensuring modularity — companies can reduce processing power and memory requirements and ultimately reduce energy consumption.

Efficient data management techniques, such as deduplication — which eliminates duplicate data blocks — and compression — which reduces extra data within each block — help reduce both storage needs and energy consumption. 

When data centres use these techniques, they can store more data on each piece of hardware, which means they need fewer storage devices overall. This results in lower electricity usage for both the equipment and cooling systems. 

By incorporating these practices into the software development process, companies can significantly cut their carbon footprint, support corporate sustainability goals and improve operational efficiency.

As organisations’ software footprints are expected to grow exponentially in the next decade, what are the key challenges CIOs face in transforming their operations to achieve net zero emissions and how can they overcome these challenges through sustainable IT practices?

CIOs face significant challenges such as rising energy consumption and data centre inefficiencies. However, a key issue is implementing robust systems to monitor, report and verify Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions to fully understand and mitigate carbon impact across your business supply chains. 

To overcome these obstacles, CIOs must offer employee training on green practices such as integrating energy-efficient technologies into daily workflows and promoting waste reduction strategies, facilitate access to sustainable technology financing and engage in research and development efforts. 

This strategy is vital for advancing towards sustainability goals and supporting the broader organisational shift to net-zero emissions. 

At BJSS, our Carbon Reduction Plan embodies this approach. With Local Carbon Reduction Plans (LCRP), we aim to reduce our Scope 3 emissions by ensuring our suppliers are committed to long-term environmental sustainability.

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