[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/8832\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ECooler data centres help take the heat off electric bills\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrom streaming movies or games and sharing photos on Instagram to the growing use of \u2018smart\u2019 devices and growth in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, the amount of data being processed is escalating. As a result, energy consumption of data centres in the European Union (EU) is expected to rise from 2.7% of electricity demand in 2018 to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/info\/news\/green-and-digital-study-shows-technical-and-policy-options-limit-surge-energy-consumption-cloud-and-data-centres-2020-nov-09_en\u0022\u003E3.2% by 2030\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECooling data centres can take up to 40% of their total energy consumption. \u2018Cooling a data centre is a big issue,\u2019 said Xudong Zhao, professor of engineering at the UK\u2019s University of Hull. \u2018You\u2019ve got a lot of heat generated from the data centre that needs to be removed \u2026 continuously,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u201cYou\u2019ve got a lot of heat generated from the data centre that needs to be removed \u2026 continuously.\u201d\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EXudong Zhao, professor of engineering at the UK\u2019s University of Hull\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile building data centres in cold environments like the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/kolos.com\/\u0022\u003EArctic Circle\u003C\/a\u003E or the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/innovation-stories\/project-natick-underwater-datacenter\/\u0022\u003Eocean \u003C\/a\u003Emay be one solution, energy-efficient technologies are also needed to cool thousands of centres located in warmer climates.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Zhao is coordinator of a project called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/734340\u0022\u003EDEW-COOL-4-CDC\u003C\/a\u003E that has developed an air conditioning system that uses between \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dewcool4cdc.uk\/\u0022\u003E60% and 90% less\u003C\/a\u003E electricity than a standard one. The technology works by extracting hot dry air generated by the data centre and passing it over water that then evaporates in the heat, leaving the air cooler.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditional air cooling systems use condensers, compressors, and evaporators, all of which are very energy intensive, explains Prof. Zhao. The technology is at the pilot stage, but once it gets to market and is produced on a large scale, it should cost about the same as traditional air conditioning systems, he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EShare the load\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother way to reduce electricity consumption is to closely monitor the way servers in data centres are working, says \u00c7a\u011fatay Yilmaz, coordinator of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/956059\u0022\u003EECO-Qube\u003C\/a\u003E, another project developing energy-efficient cooling solutions for data centres. For example, if just two servers in a roomful of servers are doing all the work, spreading the load between them all will reduce the amount of cooling needed, says Yilmaz. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022One way to reduce electricity consumption is to closely monitor the way servers in data centres are working \u2013 image credit: \u00a9 William E. Fehr, Shutterstock\u0022 data-entity-type=\u0022file\u0022 data-entity-uuid=\u0022c3146708-ad76-400e-956b-b3d4267ac9a0\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/HM_cooling%20datacentres2_William%20E.%20Fehr%2C%20Shutterstock_1510593830.jpg\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EOne way to reduce electricity consumption is to closely monitor the way servers in data centres are working \u2013 image credit: \u00a9 William E. Fehr, Shutterstock\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ESmall data centres are easy to monitor and manage in this way \u2013 and they have the potential to reduce energy consumption by about 20%, says Yilmaz, who is innovation manager of Lande Rack Cabinet, a company based in Istanbul.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother option ECO-Qube is researching is to integrate data centres in a residential or office building. That way, excess heat from the servers can be used in the building and its water supplies. \u2018You can collect the waste heat [from] the servers and use it as an additional heating system for your building, for your showers, for generating electricity,\u2019 said Yilmaz.\u003Cbr\u003EThe project is trialling this in a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.empa.ch\/web\/nest\/\u0022\u003Eresearch and innovation building\u003C\/a\u003E in Switzerland.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u201cYou can collect the waste heat [from] the servers and use it as an additional heating system for your building, for your showers, for generating electricity.\u201d\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003E\u00c7a\u011fatay Yilmaz, coordinator of ECO-Qube\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the meantime, the spiralling volume of mobile data and development of AI technologies is \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/551501\/worldwide-big-data-business-analytics-revenue\/\u0022\u003Eincreasing demand\u003C\/a\u003E for data centres.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWidespread lockdowns and increased home-based working since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic have also boosted demand for digital infrastructure, says JLL, an international real estate services firm that \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jll.co.uk\/en\/industries\/data-centres\u0022\u003Eworks with data centres\u003C\/a\u003E. Demand for data centres in Europe\u2019s major cities is expected \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jll.co.uk\/en\/newsroom\/demand-for-data-centers-in-major-european-cities-to-rise-by-a-th\u0022\u003Eto rise by a third\u003C\/a\u003E in 2021, JLL said in March.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EU is considering introducing regulations to curb their energy use, as data usage climbs. For now, some data centre operators have formed a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.climateneutraldatacentre.net\/\u0022\u003Epact\u003C\/a\u003E to become climate neutral by 2030. They aim to improve energy efficiency, switch to clean energy sources, and explore ways to reuse excess heat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll these are important steps, because all data-hungry technologies have a price \u2013 even streaming a movie at home on high-definition TV, says Yilmaz. \u2018The price is energy consumption.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research in this article was funded by the EU. 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