Latin America. Data centers are essential to support and encourage the rapid adoption of digitalization, including high-performance computing and artificial intelligence. However, its momentum has also increased awareness of the industry's energy consumption and environmental impact.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), improvements in energy efficiency have helped moderate the growth in energy demand in data centers and data transmission networks, which account for approximately 1-1.5% of global electricity use.
New industry regulations have emerged that focus primarily on improving energy efficiency, managing energy consumption, and reducing environmental impact to move toward more sustainable operations in the data center.
This includes implementing cutting-edge technologies, such as more efficient cooling systems; harnessing clean energy sources, such as solar and wind; the implementation of water recycling and reuse systems; as well as reducing consumption in daily operations, investing in server virtualization and finding ways to offset emissions.
Sustainable Data Center: A Self-Regulatory Proposal
The initiative supported by the European Data Centre Association is part of the Climate-Neutral Data Centre Pact, which promotes self-regulation and seeks to commit operators to support the European Green Deal and achieve the ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets in the Climate Change Act.
These actors have committed to taking concrete steps to make data centers carbon neutral by 2030. One of the main actions is that, as of January 1, 2025, new data centers operating at full capacity in cold climates will be required to meet an annual PUE target of 1.3, and new data centers operating at full capacity in hot climates will be required to meet a target of 1.4.
How is Latin America moving towards the green data center?
Latin America is closely following these global regulations, as energy efficiency and sustainability are becoming a key factor in the data center market. However, the industry recognizes that it is more than a market trend, it is a necessity to ensure the future of business and our environment.
On this path to sustainable data centers, Vertiv has developed the Data Center Sustainability Guide, aimed at owners and operators looking for best practices for designing and operating a low-impact data center, as well as complementary technologies that evolve to support increased utilization and increased use of renewable energy.
*Author: Rafael Garrido, Vice President of Vertiv LATAM.
