Continuing our series of webinars around The Sustainability Imperative for Data Centres Across APAC, China’s emission targets have placed the data centre’s sustainable development and operation under the spotlight. As China aims to hit peak emissions before 2030 and for carbon neutrality by 2060, a challenging transition in the power-consuming data centre industry is expected – to sustain the industry’s development and fulfil new standards.
The 14th Five-Year Plan released by the China government pointed out the alarming need to accelerate digital transformation. It is foreseeable that Big Data, Cloud Computing, 5G, IoT (Internet of Things), and AI (Artificial Intelligence) will bring about a surge in data computation and management. China’s digital infrastructure is particularly worthy of attention. It is the foundation of digital economy development, and an approach to achieve smart and green development.
In this episode, Alton Wong, Senior Director of Valuation & Advisory Services, Co-head of Sustainability Services, Greater China, and Summer Chen, Senior Associate Director of Sustainability Services, jointly hosted a round table discussion. Heavyweight speakers outlined the materiality of sustainability issues in the data centre industry. The experts also shared their insights on the impact of China’s emission targets on the development and operation of data centres. A variety of transition costs and impacts of adopting green electricity in the industry were also discussed.
Key Highlights:
- Angel Ye – Project Manager, Greenpeace
Angel talked about the growing trend of adopting green electricity among leading technology enterprises – according to recent research published by Bloomberg NEF (BNEF), corporations purchased a record of 23.7 GW of clean energy in 2020. Amazon has become the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the U.S., to advance its commitment to decarbonize business operations and reach net-zero carbon by 2040. Angel also shared her analysis on the feasibility and effectiveness of different green electricity purchasing channels with the audiences. Channels covered, including green power project investment, green power trading, photovoltaic installation and purchase of green certificate.
- Danny Cheng – Chairman of Banyano Data Center Consulting, Secretary General of LEED Data Centre Advisory Committee, China
Meanwhile, Danny walked us through the 5 key steps for decarbonizing data centres – Carbon auditing and energy conservation examination in reference to ISO 14064; Upgrading energy-saving hardware, such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning devices; Energy-saving operation and management by monitoring parameters; Application of renewable energy, such as purchasing of green power and photovoltaic installation, and lastly certifying carbon neutrality through third-party validation.
- Calvin Tang – Regional Sales Leader – Greater China, Energy Management Business, Secure Power Division, Schneider Electric
Calvin talked about the significant KPIs to be focused on when developing and operating data centres sustainably in details – ranging from energy usage, GHG emission, water usage, waste management, to land and biodiversity. Calvin also demonstrated how AI technology could facilitate energy-saving, thus promoting the sustainable development of data centres with a real-life case study. Calvin illustrated also the difference between the active and passive driving forces behind data centres’ decarbonization projects, highlighting that sustainable data centres can effectively enhance business value and attract ESG investments.
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