IPCC AR6 Physical Science Basis Report August 2021

Carbon3IT Ltd welcomes the publication of the IPCC AR6 Physical Science Basis Report published in August 21.

It is clear that Climate Change is happening right here, right now and that substantially more has to be done, not only politically at COP26 but also on the ground.

Whilst the data centre sector is expriencing strong growth across the planet, the designs of these facilities do not ensure that climate mitigation and adaption goals can be met, we have to, as stated in my recent webinar presentations for the Digital Infrastructure Network, which can be viewed here have a 'radical rethink' of all the elements within the data centre boundary.

We can start by calculating all of the ISO/IEC 30134 series of Data Centre Key Performance Indicators, as listed below (the links take you to the BSI Shop, where you can purchase the Standard (we're an affiliate of the BSI so get a small commission for each standard purchased)

ISO/IEC 30134-1 Data Centre Key Performance Indicators, Overview and general requirements [30134-1]

ISO/IEC 30134-2 Data Centre Key Performance Indicators, Power Usage effectiveness (PUE) [30134-2]

ISO/IEC 30134-3 Data Centre Key Performance Indicators, Renewable energy factor (REF) [30134-3]

ISO/IEC 30134-4 Data Centre Key Performance Indicators, IT Equipment Energy Efficiency for servers [30134-4]

ISO/IEC 30134-5 Data Centre Key Performance Indicators, IT Equipment Utilization for servers (ITEUsv) [30134-5]

BS ISO/IEC 30134-6 Data Centre Key Performance Indicators, Energy Reuse Factor (ERF)– [30134-6]

BS ISO/IEC 30134-8 Data Centre Key Performace Indicators, Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE) –[30134-8]

BS ISO/IEC 30134-9 Data Centre Key Performance Indicators, Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) – [30134-9]

For legacy (and new build) the prudent application of the best practices as contained in the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres, which can also be downloaded using the website link or this link

Our recent blogpost on Greenwashing also contains 10 questions for potential users of colocation or indeed cloud providers to use to ensure that their choice is as green and sustainable as possible.

The world, and the data centre industry has to wake up to the fact that we simply cannot continue to emit the greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at our current or projected rate.

Many in the sector believe that we only emit around 2% globally, but this figure can range between 1-3% depending on the research, but it is my belief that the figure is far, far higher, until we have a mandatory data centre register in-country we will never actually know the true extent and reach and as such can never design a suitable plan to mitigate our emissions, we have to do better!




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