Reducing Environment Footprint Of Data Centre

A new study by researchers from Microsoft and WSP Global, published in Journal Nature, reveals that advanced cooling methods can significantly cut the environmental footprint of data centres.

Key Findings of the Study

Emission and Energy Reductions: Cold plates and immersion cooling can reduce data centre emissions by 15–21%, energy use by 15–20%, and water consumption by 31–52% compared to traditional air cooling.
Life Cycle Assessment: The study employed a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment, which helped quantify environmental impacts across air-cooled, cold-plate, and immersion cooling systems.
Role of Renewable Energy: With 100% renewable energy, cooling emissions dropped by 85–90%, water use by 55–85%, and energy use by 6–7%, demonstrating the compounding benefit of clean electricity.

What are Data Centres?

Data centres are dedicated facilities that house computer systems, servers, networking equipment, and storage systems to manage, store, and process vast volumes of digital data.
Applications: They power cloud services, host websites, manage enterprise IT operations, support financial transactions, and enable real-time communication, AI processing, and big data analytics.

Need for Cooling in Data Centres

Heat Generation: Data centres generate significant heat due to continuous high-speed processing by densely packed electronic components.
Risk of Failure: Overheating can lead to hardware malfunctions, reduced performance, and shortened equipment lifespan.
Cooling Requirement: Efficient cooling systems are essential to maintain optimal operating temperatures, ensure system reliability, enhance energy efficiency, and prevent downtime.

Modern Techniques of Cooling

Cold Plate Cooling (Direct-to-Chip Cooling): This method uses microchannel heat exchangers directly mounted on chips.
- It is akin to placing an ice pack on a fevered head, absorbing heat and carrying it away using coolant solutions.
Immersion Cooling: In this set up hardware is submerged in thermally conductive fluids.
- In single-phase systems, the coolant remains liquid and circulates heat.
  - Coolants used: Typically uses synthetic dielectric fluids, such as, Mineral oils, Synthetic esters and Silicone-based fluids.
- In two-phase systems, the coolant evaporates, condenses, and recycles, similar to a mud pot cooling mechanism.
  - These systems are more efficient, quieter, and reduce hardware corrosion.
  - Coolant used : Uses specially formulated fluorocarbon-based liquids, including Engineered Fluids and Fluorinated ketones.

Air Cooling, Direct-to-Chip (DTC) Liquid Cooling, and Immersion Liquid Cooling

Aspect	Air Cooling	Direct-to-Chip (DTC) Cooling	Immersion Cooling
Cooling Medium	Air circulated via CRAC/CRAH, fan walls, or in-row units	Liquid (typically water or treated coolant) via cold plates	Dielectric fluid (single-phase or two-phase)
Heat Transfer Efficiency	Low – limited by air’s low thermal conductivity	High – direct contact with hot components via cold plates	Very High – fluid surrounds all components for uniform heat removal
Component Coverage	Entire rack environment including all equipment	Focused on CPUs, GPUs; others still cooled by air	Full system submersion, all heat sources cooled
Power Density Support	Up to ~20 kW/rack (with optimization)	Up to ~50–100 kW/rack	Up to 500 kW/rack or more
Maintenance & Compatibility	Easier maintenance; universal compatibility	Moderate complexity; limited vendor support	High complexity; requires specially-prepared hardware
Deployment Complexity	Simple and widely adopted	Moderate – requires fluid loops, plates, leak management	High – needs tanks, fluid handling, leak detection
Sustainability Potential	Lower – high fan energy, limited heat reuse	Medium – less energy use, some heat reuse possible	High – efficient energy use and better heat reuse potential

Challenges Regarding Green Technology

Regulatory Complexities: Coolant fluids are subject to varying regulations, and complex system designs can delay wide-scale adoption of advanced cooling technologies.
Trade-offs in Sustainability: While new technologies are greener, they come with trade-offs.
- For instance, sourcing and disposal of coolants may cause other environmental harms akin to replacing plastic straws with paper.
Electricity Source Matters: Cooling technologies may still have a high carbon footprint if powered by coal-based electricity, similar to electric cars powered by fossil fuel grids.

Way Forward

Systemic Thinking in Sustainability: Policymakers, scientists, and industry must shift from isolated technological fixes to integrated life cycle assessments to avoid transferring pollution from one stage or region to another.
Integration with Renewable Energy: Combining advanced cooling with renewable electricity amplifies emission and water savings, reinforcing that clean energy and efficient cooling must work together.
Policy Support and Standardisation: There is a need for harmonised regulations, global standards for coolants, and fast-tracked approval for green technologies.
Industry-Wide Adoption and Investment: Data centres must invest in scalable cold-plate and immersion systems and integrate them into new builds and retrofits to ensure long-term energy and emission reductions.
Balancing Growth and Climate Goals: As global demand for cloud services and digital infrastructure rises, adopting smarter cooling technologies will be critical in balancing growth with sustainability.

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