Data centers are the backbone of cloud computing, providing the physical infrastructure and resources needed to store, process, and distribute data across the internet.
But powering these centers is no small feat. According to the International Energy Agency, data centers already represent around 1% of global electricity consumption.
Computing workloads for new technology like generative AI are pushing energy consumption and costs up even further. Data centers’ share of global electricity consumption is projected to increase rapidly in the coming years.
Corporations are starting to pay more attention to this issue — discussions of data center energy usage on earnings transcripts are trending up quickly.
However, new technologies are emerging that could help reduce data centers’ environmental impact. Below, we dive into some of the major technologies with the potential to reshape data centers.
