Do ‘green’ data centres really have zero CO2 emissions?

Abstract

The claim of a green data centre is generally made based on a net-zero CO2 emission through a ‘balance-sheet’ approach, which considers renewable electricity through on-site installation or purchase agreement as abatement measures against the use of fossil electricity from the electric grid on an annual basis. However, when the hourly dynamic fuel mix is accounted for in the assessment, the annual net-zero energy approach does not lead to a true carbon neutral data centre. In response, two approaches based on net-zero energy and net-zero CO2 emission respectively are proposed and investigated regarding the goal of net-zero CO2 emission. A data centre in Singapore with typical load profiles is used as a case study, different scenarios considering climate change and projected future energy are defined to examine the impacts of dynamic energy mix on the net CO2 emission of the data centre. The net-zero energy approach is found to result in significant amount of annual CO2 emissions. In comparison, the net-zero CO2 emission approach can assure a true net-zero CO2 emission, but this approach will require an increase of PV capacity by 20% and 60% as compared to the net-zero energy approach based on assessment for the year 2030 and 2050, respectively.