Using data centres to heat up our lives

By Fay Capstick

Data centres generate a lot of heat. This week we will be looking at some of the ways that heat can be harnessed to heat up our lives.

Introduction

Computers get hot when they are running and it takes a lot of computers to power our lives, but we just don’t see them. Data centres are humming away around the world, constantly processing our data requests; everything from our Netflix binge to our banking needs. This heat has to go somewhere and previously a lot would have been wasted, but now there are schemes to put it to good use.

How bad is the problem?

Greenpeace have estimated that within 3 years, the technology sector will consume 20% of the world’s total electricity (https://earth.org/environmental-impact-of-cloud-computing/). This is a massive jump and shows how much power our ever increasing demand for technology is consuming.

Further, we are now making huge jumps with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. These technologies need huge amounts of computing power and this is coming via Cloud computing data centres. As this technology further progresses, the environmental impact will increase exponentially (https://geographical.co.uk/nature/energy/item/3876-the-carbon-footprint-of-ai-and-cloud-computing).

The logical solution is to put data centres in cold locations, such as underwater or in caves, but this isn’t always possible, so other more inventive ideas are being implemented that seek to use the excess heat.

Going swimmingly

As the BBC recently reported (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64939558), Exmouth in Devon is using the heat from a tiny data centre to help heat the water in its swimming pool. They are managing to get the water to 30C 60% of the time. And it really is tiny. The data centre is the size of a washing machine, which is minuscule compared with a usual data centre.

This has been made possible by a start up called Deep Green (https://deepgreen.energy/), who have provided their services to the council for free. Given the current energy prices this is a huge bonus for the council and a win for the environment, and Deep Green are hoping to add a further 20 public pools this year.

But this is all very small scale. How big an impact could harnessing a bigger data centre make?

Go large

Other schemes have already been put in place around the world to harness the huge amount of heat that data centres generate.

In the Odense area of Denmark, Facebook is using the heat generated by its data centre to heat 7,000 homes in a scheme started in 2019. They use heat pumps to capture the heat and put it to good use. The scheme should eventually expand to encompass 12,000 homes.

In Sweden some data centres pay tenants for the spare heat they generate. At Stockholm Data Parks, this spare heat will be enough to heat 35,000 apartments.

In Finland Microsoft is working with Fortum (an energy provider) on several data centres in Helsinki that will feed their excess heat into homes. Plus the data centres themselves will also be powered by renewable energy. The calculations show that this scheme will save 400,000 tonnes of carbon annually.

The Nordic countries appear to be leading the way and this is largely due to their existing district heating networks that can be easily used. A district heating scheme means that people do not have boilers in their individual homes, a method that is uncommon in the UK.

Going underground in London

In 2020 Islington council launched a scheme to reuse some of the horrendously hot air found in the London Underground tunnels. The effort is giving heat and hot water to over 1,000 homes and leisure centres in the borough.

Is there a catch?

Only a little one. In order for the heat to be used, the data centre needs to be located near to the heating network that it is trying to power. However this actually makes sense, as data centres need workers, and so locating the data centre near a heating network means that it will likely be near people, which is sensible. Bigger data centres are able to transport the energy they generate further.

Conclusions

Heat recovery from data centres is a great way to put the excess energy to good use and is a huge win for the environment; plus a potential win for customers in the form of lower bills.

A goal would be for all suitable excess heat from all data centres to be used, as the problem is only getting bigger as the number of data centres around the world continues to mushroom. It is expected that the data centre heating market will be worth $2.5 billion annually within 2 years. Further, developers on large planned town developments worldwide should consider putting Nordic style district heating systems in so that they can benefit from such schemes.

The next problem for the planet is how to reduce the amount of water that data centres need to operate and this is something that we will look at next week.

Final thoughts

At Parker Shaw we have been at the forefront of the sector we serve, IT & Digital Recruitment and Consulting, for over 30 years. We can advise you on all your hiring needs. If you are looking for your next job in the IT sector please check our Jobs Board for our current live vacancies at https://parkershaw.co.uk/jobs-board