Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/860140
10 | THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL www.datacenterjournal.com b ut the situation raises at least two questions. One is whether energy invest- ments by large players represent the future of the industry or are just gimmicks. e other is whether these investments will make meaningful progress in dealing with energy concerns. Building AlternAtive energy Constructing power-generation facilities based on coal or natural gas is generally out of the question for data center operators (and most other com- panies)—politically, if not practically. e same is true of nuclear energy. So, alternative energy sources includ- ing solar and wind (with a smattering of others) are the big names. Solar, in particular, is well suited to many companies: the infrastructure is rela- tively inexpensive and highly scalable. A small company might, for instance, add a few solar panels to the rooop; a bigger one could use some extra land to build a much larger array of panels. Moreover, these power sources carry lots of political favor (and subsidies), making them an excellent option for a company that wants to improve its environmental standing or garner financial rewards for investing in alter- native energy. Clearly, then, alternative energy is tempting. "Data center operators are increasingly taking a holistic view of energy procurement, particularly with respect to renewable energy," said Aaron Binkley, director of sustainabil- ity for Digital Realty Trust. "Although building large site-adjacent solar farms may be impractical for most data centers, data center operators, such as Digital Realty, are increasingly consid- ering a full range of options to source low-carbon and renewable energy." e world has few Apples, but it has many smaller operators of private, cloud and colocation data centers. How, then, can the many get in on opportunities that seem limited to just the few? "Although large data center operators will have better access to a wide range of solutions, any data center operator can take action," said Bin- kley. He noted that alternative-energy projects may fall short of providing all the power a particular company needs, but they can still help. "e point here is that on-site renewable-energy solu- tions aren't scalable enough to meet the clean-power needs of modern data centers, so operators must look for sources of green power that match the scale of their data center energy use," he added. Worth noting, though, is that even a large solar farm—by itself—is insufficient to power a data center that operates at night, since the power source (the sun) is unavailable during that time. Some form of stored energy is necessary, at least as a supplement. (Wind energy faces the same problem; in this case, it's air movement, rather than sunlight, that varies.) Data center operators have a number of options beyond just setting up solar panels: Binkley cited fuel cells (which Apple also uses) and cogenera- tion as alternatives. ese kinds of investments are the most direct way a company can improve its environ- mental credentials in an industry that's under increasing scrutiny for its power use (and, unfortunately, waste). But companies that lack the will or wherewithal to go this route still have options. investing in AlternAtive energy Another approach—and one that's a little fuzzier as far as its practical ef- fects—is to invest in alternative energy indirectly. More specifically, rather than building and maintaining the power-generation infrastructure, data center operators can work with utilities that handle these tasks. e problem is that a company can't simply have the utility send solar or wind power to its data center, bypassing the power mix that everyone else gets. So claims that a data center is powered entirely by alternative energy, for example, usually means that the company making the claim has engaged in some paper (and money) shuffling with the utility com- pany to purchase that energy—but not necessarily to consume it. At this point, owing in part to the way the power grid works, things get a little confusing. "An increasing number of utili- ties offer green tariffs that go beyond business as usual and renewable energy certificates (RECs)," said Binkley. e U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines RECs as "the accepted legal instrument through which renew- able energy generation and use claims are substantiated in the U.S. renew- able energy market." Such instruments can be beneficial because "the physi- cal electricity we receive through the utility grid says nothing of its origin or how it was generated, [so] RECs play an important role in accounting, tracking, and assigning ownership to renewable electricity generation and use," according to the agency. Again, though, such arrangements seem more like paper shuffling than a way to measurably protect or improve the environment. e green tariffs that Binkley cites are similar to RECs, but they provide a more local and therefore more tangible option for utility customers. Accord- ing to the World Resources Institute, "A green tariff is a utility program that allows customers to source up to 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources located on their local grid.... Under a green tariff, utili- ties would supply renewable power through a portfolio of renewable ener- gy projects either owned by the utility or contracted with independent power producers (IPPs) in the local area." Companies also have even more-