As Kermit the frog once said "it's not easy being green"...did Miss Piggy agree though?
Reminiscing back to my childhood in deepest darkest Yorkshire, I remember a time when "fossil fuels" and the lack of - came on the radar at school. Being 12 years of age and having more important things to worry about like Kirsty Milligan, it kind of went over my head, as Mr Frusher and his 12 inch moustache tried to explain that at the current rate of "burn" we would run out of coal and oil in 50 years time.
At 12 years of age, 50 years seemed like an age, and so turning the odd light off and notching down the central heating 2 degrees (I couldn't even reach the thermostat) was not really on a 12 year olds agenda. As I pedalled round on my BMX munching on gob stoppers, red liquorice shoe laces and any other penny sweets my paper round money could buy me, the next generation up was creating holes in our ozone layer and turning our delightful planet into one big green house. Were ozone friendly deodorants (I remember Brute's offering) really going to put the brakes on this irreversible damage? If I were to interview our furry polar bear friends in the North Pole, I think I know what the answer would be!
Looking back, now at the ripe age of 33, did we really do enough? David Attenborough's latest documentary about human population shown on Horizon seems to suggest that at our current rate of population expansion and energy consumption, we would require a multiple of planet earths to sustain such a population growth.
Have we acted too late, or is there still time?
So, how does all this fit in with the data centre industry and our current rate of data centre growth?
I remember, yes here he goes again you say, back in 1998 when I first entered the world of colocation. Times were certainly different then, racks were smaller, more comms orientated and certainly didn't demand the level of power and cooling that are commonly seen in today's data centres. Billing was driven by space as opposed to power, and electricity was a third cheaper than pricing seen on today's wholesale markets.
Wholesale energy prices soared over the summer of 2008, despite the recent dip due to the current economic climate, and we can expect spot prices to soar even further over the coming years, as fossil fuels become more scarce and as our economies recover. Such energy price increases forced the data centre model to change somewhat, with power consumption being the main driver.
As we are all aware, the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme is due to be introduced by the department of energy and climate change on the 1st April 2010 for all half hourly electricity meters and users over 6000MWH's per annum as recorded in 2008...so basically all data centres in the UK. What effect, if any, has this had on the way data centre operators operate their facilities?
As the CEO of UK Grid, I can only comment on UK Grid's data centre operations and as the CEO of UK Grid, will do so gladly. We took the bull by the horns, so to speak, and foresaw such regulations being introduced and thus took action before action was necessary.
I am very proud to be part of an organisation that has taken its impact on the environment seriously, and to be at the forefront of innovation within the data centre industry. At this point I don't need to drone on about the technologies UK Grid have implemented to achieve ISO14001 accreditation and a PUE of 1.35, my CTO will happily and passionately do this for me, however what I would like to do is convey UK Grid's commitment to driving down its PUE, driving down its energy consumption and thus drive down its carbon footprint...I had to get that buzz word in at the end I'm afraid as it's the crux of this article.
I believe that the data centre industry as a whole has a responsibility to reduce its carbon footprint where at all possible. From the point of view of a carrier neutral data centre provider such as UK Grid, this can only be done by reducing the energy required to cool the facility, utilising energy efficient UPS systems and perhaps by educating its customer base on using energy efficient IT equipment.
Should data centres be required to go one step further, and purchase a mix of green and brown electricity or take part in renewable energy schemes around the UK to help offset their carbon footprint?
As my time is now up, and I have to return to the world of board meetings and bureaucracy I would like to leave you with this thought...perhaps, as our froggy friend once said, it isn't easy being green, but by tackling the energy challenges data centres are presented with head on, do you think Miss Piggy would have agreed with Kermit?
Rob Garbutt
CEO
UK Grid
