IRON MOUNTAIN DATA CENTERS
“AI may be a key to solving the problem , not just for our own industry but for other sectors ”
popular , scrutiny . To address the twin challenges of capacity growth and e-waste the industry will have to be at the top of its game .
Addressing the challenge : Carbon elimination and circularity How should the industry react ? As ever , by solving the problems one by one .
Low-to-no-carbon power sources will be the key to addressing power challenges . The power demands of generative AI will accelerate this focus and drive new innovations in microgrids and backup power sources such as battery , hydrogen and nuclear . Renewables will also be key . Most hyperscalers and a growing number of colocation providers have been growing the green grid and eliminating carbon to the point that today , hyperscalers are the biggest buyers of renewables in the world . On the colocation side , the Iron Mountain Group is now one of the top 20 renewable buyers in the world .
Data centre owners will now need to follow the leaders and we are already making headway . Following Google ’ s lead , two years ago IMDC committed to provide not just 100 % renewables but 24 / 7 carbonfree energy – you can see how IMDC and its partners have gone about this in a recent documentary ‘ Transforming our Future ’. This is a major step up from ‘ attributing ’ power used to renewables credits , and we believe that this approach will in time replace the current year-by-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement model .
When it comes to circularity , new chips and superfast GPUs will drive the
168 December 2023