The road to a green future for Datacenters in India

In the last decade, the Indian economy is becoming truly digitised. The data centre sector is anticipated to expand quickly in the coming years due to the industry's gaining infrastructure status, ongoing digitalisation, and the need to localise data. According to rating agency ICRA, the capacity of the Indian data centre industry is slated to rise by a factor of five, with 3,900–4,100 MW of capacity, including investments of Rs. 1.05–1.20,000 crore, to be added during the next five years. Keeping in mind the significant expansion of data centers in the pipeline, the time has come for businesses to focus on "environmental sustainability."

The need for Datacenters

The vast volume and quantity of data generated as a result of the expansion of the digital infrastructure, along with the growing emphasis on localising data, have given the nation's data storage industry a boost. Additionally, the growth of digital industries like banking and fintech, health and education technology, e-commerce, telemedicine, etc., is predicted to raise the demand for data centres due to the massive amount of data that will be produced.

A digital economy's fundamental building elements are data centres. Any organisation's critical information technology (IT) applications are hosted in a data centre that supports network and security operations. The IT infrastructure for storing and processing online transactions depends on the backend data centre, where everything that occurs online is routed. These facilities use an enormous amount of energy. They must operate continuously to run the servers and keep the data centre at the ideal temperature using powerful air conditioning units. A dedicated data centre with cutting-edge technology is increasing in demand as banks and financial institutions use IT solutions in their core business activities. This is anticipated to grow due to increased financial inclusion, the development of the retail payment system Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the availability of the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) System around-the-clock, the Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), etc.

Robust data centre infrastructure is also necessary to safeguard our nation's digital sovereignty in an increasingly linked world and meet data localisation laws. The requirement for setting up local data centres in the country has increased as a result of the Reserve Bank of India's guidelines on the storage of payment system data, which order all payment system operators to ensure that the data related to payment systems operated by them must be stored in a system only in India.

Datacenter's impact on the environment

The quantity of power consumed and electronic waste produced by data centres can be used to gauge their environmental impact. Data centres use around 3% of the world's electricity, producing 1% - 2% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The quantity of energy needed to cool the computers and equipment in data centres makes them power hogs. About 1% of the world's electricity demand, or 200–250 Terawatt hours (TWh), was consumed by data centres in 2020. The production of electronic garbage, or "e-waste," which results from data centre refresh activity, is another problem that data centres present. Data centres frequently use EEE (electronic and electrical equipment) and cooling infrastructure, and as a result, these materials are left behind as e-waste following routine maintenance activities. The EEE is an intricate amalgamation of several elements, many of which have deadly chemical compositions. If disposed of in an unsustainable way, these harmful chemical-containing parts could harm human health and the environment. The increased use of EEE, its shorter life cycles, and the limited number of repair alternatives are the key drivers of the growth in e-waste.

Solution of sustainable and green datacenters

Countries and businesses worldwide are taking steps to ensure the sustainability of their data centres. Microsoft recently tested a hydrogen fuel cell system potent enough to replace a conventional diesel backup generator. Icelandic data centres, known for employing renewable energy, particularly a combination of geothermal and hydroelectric energy, may soon become a hub for businesses looking to use high-performance computing while minimising their carbon footprint.

There are a variety of direct and indirect advantages to using green data centres. A significant decrease in energy and water use is one of the apparent advantages. Improved air quality and the health and well-being of the people working in such facilities are intangible advantages of green data centres. The heart of a green data centre, which typically aims to have a lower power use effectiveness, maintains energy efficiency, and implements sustainability in operations.

Summing up 

The Indian data centre industry is better positioned to implement green technologies for current and future data centres, given that it is in a high growth phase. What is required at this time is to direct upcoming investments sustainably, guided by regulatory requirements and industry-wide initiatives, so that the new data centres being built have characteristics that are "born green" and pave the way for existing data centres to also be converted to green data centres.

Deepak Thakur, Business Head- Mission Critical Infrastructure Solutions, Delta Electronics India