How to reduce the ecological footprint of AI ?

Given its significant environmental impact, the AI and data center industry is actively seeking innovative strategies to reduce its environmental footprint - with a focus on energy efficiency, water conservation and resource optimization. These solutions address the challenges described in the previous section.

Streamlining data centres

Rethinking traditional approaches to cooling

One example is rethinking traditional approaches to cooling. Google has conducted a study that suggests that excessive cooling of components, particularly hard disk drives (HDDs), can be . Too low temperatures can lead to mechanical and electrical problems, which paradoxically increases the failure rate.

These findings support the trend increasing operating temperatures in data centres. Google, for example, operates some of its data centres at temperatures up to , which contributes to higher energy efficiency without negatively impacting equipment reliability.

Free cooling - cooling using natural conditions

Taking advantage of natural climatic conditions offers significant potential for reducing energy consumption:

Free cooling by air: It uses cool outdoor air to cool data centres, reducing the need for conventional air conditioning - especially in colder areas.
Free cooling water: It uses naturally cold water sources, such as lakes or seawater, to cool servers. For example, uses seawater for cooling. Studies show that using these techniques can reduce cooling costs by up to compared to traditional methods.

Waste heat recovery

In addition to efficient cooling, the focus is also on the smart use of waste heat from data centres:

Central heating: Capture and use waste heat for heating residential and commercial buildings in the area. For example, Meta's data centre in Odense, Denmark, will annually provide heat to the local community.
Agricultural use: Excess heat can be used for and support year-round crop production.
Industrial processes: Waste heat can be used for industrial purposes, for example for drying wood pellets.

Responsible water management and the transition to renewables

Wider corporate commitments and investments also play an important role:

Target: water positivity: Technology companies such as Microsoft and Google have committed to making will be "water positive" - that is, they will return more water than they use.

For example, Microsoft is investing in replenishing water in vulnerable regions, while Google focuses on improving water management across its services.