Scaling Down Data Centers > better ways to cool data centres and to recycle their waste heat.

NEWS FEATURE                    

12 September 2018 | Correction 13 September 2018                                

How to stop data centres from gobbling up the world’s electricity

The energy-efficiency drive at the information factories that serve us Facebook, Google and Bitcoin

Source: https://www.nature.com.

 

. . . Inside these vast factories, bigger than aircraft carriers, tens of thousands of circuit boards are racked row upon row, stretching down windowless halls so long that staff ride through the corridors on scooters.

These huge buildings are the treasuries of the new industrial kings: the information traders. The five biggest global companies by market capitalization this year are currently Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook, replacing titans such as Shell and ExxonMobil. Although information factories might not spew out black smoke or grind greasy cogs, they are not bereft of environmental impact. As demand for Internet and mobile-phone traffic skyrockets, the information industry could lead to an explosion in energy use (see ‘Energy forecast’).

Already, data centres use an estimated 200 terawatt hours (TWh) each year. That is more than the national energy consumption of some countries, including Iran, but half of the electricity used for transport worldwide, and just 1% of global electricity demand (see ‘Energy scale’). Data centres contribute around 0.3% to overall carbon emissions, whereas the information and communications technology (ICT) ecosystem as a whole — under a sweeping definition that encompasses personal digital devices, mobile-phone networks and televisions — accounts for more than 2% of global emissions.

That puts ICT’s carbon footprint on a par with the aviation industry’s emissions from fuel.
What could happen in the future is hard to forecast.
But one of the most worrying models predicts that electricity use by ICT could exceed 20% of the global total by the time a child born today reaches her teens, with data centres using more than one-third of that (see ‘Energy forecast’)¹.
If the computationally intensive crypto currency Bitcoin continues to grow, a sharp rise in energy demand could come sooner rather than later (see ‘The Bitcoin bite’).
. . . With the spectre of an energy-hungry future looming, scientists in academic labs and engineers at some of the world’s wealthiest companies are exploring ways to keep the industry’s environmental impact in check. They are streamlining computing processes, switching to renewables and investigating better ways to cool data centres and to recycle their waste heat.
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. . . “The trend is good right now, but it’s questionable what it’s going to look like in 5–10 years,” says Dale Sartor, who oversees the Center of Expertise for Energy Efficiency in Data Centers at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California.
. . . Shift to high gear
Perhaps the most startling forecast of ICT’s future energy demand comes from Anders Andrae, who works on sustainable ICT at Huawei Technologies Sweden in Kista; he predicts that data-centre electricity use is likely to increase about 15-fold by 2030, to 8% of projected global demand¹. Such dire numbers are controversial.  

U Can Google This > Killer Heat Waves + Data Center Business

This is taken from https://data-economy.com , just yesterday if that's any coincidence at all
‘Hell is coming’ – What Europe’s killer heatwave hotter than Death Valley means for data centre businesses . . .
By João Marques Lima 
Published: 21:35, 30 June, 2019 Updated: 02:36, 1 July, 2019

"Every data centre owner’s worst nightmare is a lights-out event. Sometimes, this s down to human error and could be avoided. But other times, an outage could be completely out of control from those in charge. As Europe faces one of the worst heat waves in its history, Data Economy looks at how the extreme event is both a challenge and lesson to colocation companies".

We are experiencing the same thing here, like the heat wave that is sizzling Europe.

 

". . .The heat wave is being experienced by more than 320 million people across the continent with several measures put in place by local authorities in an attempt to curb the consequences of the severe heat.
Such event is, nonetheless, limited solely to people but also infrastructure. In previous years, there have been reports of roads melting, rivers running dry and smog engulfing entire cities. . . "

How does it impact data centres?

In a worst case scenario, during a heat wave, a data centre could face downtime as a result of several circumstances including IT equipment overheating, UPSs coming alight, electrical systems failing, power outages and other events.
In extreme scenarios, a data centre building could fall victim to a wildfire and be consumed by flames, something hard to prepare any building for. It is also important to highlight that a fire in a data centre could lead to the loss of life, as it has happened in several occasions in the past.
According to Capitoline, between 2008 and 2018 there have been 53 data centre outages globally cause by fire. This works out as an average of over five per year and the sample only counts with publicly recorded major outages caused by fires and does not represent the total number of data centres affected by fire in the period.

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IN OTHER DATA CENTER NEWS,

H5 Data Centers sues Grant County over $116.7m 2018 data centre tax assessment

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By Abigail Opiah Published: 13:52, 2 July, 2019 Updated: 13:52, 2 July, 2019

". . . The Grant County Assessor appraised the subject property on an erroneous basis, resulting in a taxable assessed value that exceeded the subject property’s market value on January 1, 2017,” Garvey Barer, H5’s Seattle-based attorney, wrote in a filing with the Douglas County Superior Court dated June 24.

“Grant County’s action in collecting taxes based upon the illegal, erroneous and excessive assessments violates the property tax provisions [of Washington state law], and the equal protection requirements of the Washington and United States constitutions.”
Elsewhere two months ago, H5 Data Centers announced a 25,000 sq ft expansion of its Phoenix colocation facility in Chandler, Arizona.
The company revealed that the second phase development at the 180,000 sq ft data centre facility adds infrastructure capacity to the data centre campus.
READ MORE > https://data-economy.com/

Call For New Mesa Protype Project Ideas by July 31, 2019

Submission forms online are now available in English and Spanish. 11 locations in 2 neighborhoods have been identified as offering opportunities for improvement, intervention, creative enhancement.

Mesa Prototyping Project seeks ideas for neighborhood projects

By Casey Blake
June 25, 2019 at 12:38 pm
Mesa Prototyping Project asks the question:

How does a community design itself?

Currently seeking project proposals for temporary projects (prototypes)

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Media Contact:
Casey Blake
480-644-6620casey.blake@mesaartscenter.com 

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Mesa Prototyping Project seeks ideas for neighborhood projects
Submissions due July 31, 2019
June 25, 2019 (Mesa, AZ) The Mesa Arts Center, City of Mesa and several other partners have issued a Call for Ideas for the next phase of the Mesa Prototyping Project. The project asks, how does a community design itself, and explores answers through an ongoing series of events that utilize arts-based tools for community development.
The Call for Ideas seeks ideas for neighborhood projects that directly respond to input and needs identified by residents of those neighborhoods. Proposals for temporary projects are being accepted through July 31, 2019 and anyone can apply. Selected projects will receive a budget of $3,000 (depending on costs) and will be showcased in a free, public event on Saturday, March 21, 2020.
Following a community residency and feedback gathering process facilitated by two artist teams, 11 locations in 2 neighborhoods have been identified as offering opportunities for improvement, intervention, creative enhancement.> Call for Ideas in English.> Call for Ideas in Spanish.
Those interested in submitting an idea for a temporary project are encouraged to review the observations made by neighborhood residents and community residency participants, and to attend an information session to learn more about the opportunity, meet neighborhood residents and ask questions.

Information sessions will be held

• Tuesday, June 25, 6-7:30 p.m. at Mesa Artspace Lofts in Mesa, AZ
• Thursday, July 11, 6-7:30 p.m. at Catholic Charities Campus in Mesa, AZ. This phase of the Mesa Prototyping Project follows the Main Street Prototyping Festival in 2017, the installation of 2nd generation prototypes in spring 2019, and two community residencies in the neighborhoods southeast of downtown Mesa.

The Mesa Prototyping Project is generously supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. www.mesaartscenter.com/mesaprototyping.

About Mesa Arts Center
The Mesa Arts Center mission is to inspire people through engaging arts experiences that are diverse, accessible, and relevant. Owned and operated by the City of Mesa, Arizonas largest arts center is recognized as an international award-winning venue. The unique and architecturally stunning facility is home to four theaters, five art galleries, and 14 art studios and an artist cooperative gallery. For more information, visit mesaartscenter.com.

Mesa Prototyping Project Acknowledgements:
Sponsored by:

CORE Construction

Sunbelt Holdings

LISC

Mesa Prototyping Project Partners:

Mesa Urban Garden (MUG)

Artspace

Catholic Charities Care Campus
Supported by: National Endowment for the Arts

Google Just Looking? Dialing-Down The Hype & Rhetoric In a Carefully-Worded Release

From the City of Mesa News Room late-in-the-day yesterday

Google looking at Mesa

July 1, 2019 at 7:44 pm
"The Mesa City Council approved a development agreement with the multinational technology and Internet services giant, Google. That agreement outlines a potential project which would include a data center and accessory office facilities.

[Blogger Note: the agreement is confidential]

At this time, specific details have not been finalized

"Mesa would be pleased to welcome a global leader in innovation like Google to our community. They would be a great match for the Elliot Road Technology Corridor." Mayor John Giles said. "There is still much to be done but we are excited to be working with another 'Big Four' technology company and the future prospects."
Google, which specializes in Internet-related services and products including online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware, is exploring the acquisition of 187 acres in Mesa's Council District 6 just northwest of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
"I'm happy that Google will be joining our business community." District 6 Councilmember Kevin Thompson said. "This will be a win for Mesa, our citizens and the entire region. I look forward to working with them."

At this time, specific details have not been finalized. [Hmmm...that's not quite what city officials hoped to report with all the hype]

While the Development Agreement contemplates milestone minimums which Google must achieve, they do not reflect the actual project scope.
"We have a great Economic Development team and City Attorney's Office that have put a lot of time and effort into this project to get us to this point." Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said. "We are also grateful to our partners, Salt River Project, the Arizona Commerce Authority and Greater Phoenix Economic Council, for their assistance along the way."

_______________________________________________________________For more information about the Elliot Road Technology Corridor, visit https://www.selectmesa.com/business-districts/mesa-gateway-area/elliot-road-technology-corridor-6308.

Public Information and Communications
Contact: Steve Wright
Tel. 480-644-2069steven.wright@mesaaz.gov

 

Hizzoner Mesa Mayor John Giles: U.S. Conference of Mayors 2019 in Waikiki, Hawaii

Aloha!
From all appearances just a couple of years ago at a Zumba class here in Mesa, John Giles was just getting his groove on getting in shape for this year's conference that concluded yesterday.
In his absence, yesterday's Mesa City Council Study Session was presided over by Vice-Mayor Mark Freeman after local breaking news stories over a new big confidential deal for a proposed Google Data Center was discussed in two closed-door Executive Sessions - one last week and another one yesterday.
Though negotiations to all accounts have been ongoing for about a year, the details were not disclosed in the entire development process with the "Code Name: Red Hawk".

Here a snippit from Waikiki
Resolutions Preview:
Mayors Consider Issues Related to Trade and Immigration
https://www.usmayors.org/2019/06/26
"Across the country, mayors tackle the greatest challenges facing our nation every day. At the United States Conference of Mayors’ 87th Annual Meeting this week in Honolulu, they’ll meet to discuss those challenges, including trade and the continued crisis at the border. . . They will share ideas with one another and look for opportunities to learn from each other’s approaches. . . And while the Congress continues to debate the USMCA, mayors will discuss what impact signing it, or failing to do so, will have on cities across the country. There are two resolutions on this issue, one by Mesa Mayor John Giles and the other by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. . ."

Sting - Every Breath you Take

Why Did Microsoft Put a Data Center Underwater?

Launched in 2014 . . .all with renewable energy, using the ambient water temperature for cooling.

Published on Jul 1, 2019

Views: 145,654

Computer company, Microsoft, is taking servers where they've never been before: under the sea. If this innovative approach to data storage is successful, this might just be the future of "cloud computing." 
Here’s How We Could Store Data on a Single Atomhttps://youtu.be/7FYmHy85A7I
Read More:
Microsoft sinks data centre off Orkneyhttps://www.bbc.com/news/technology-4...
"If Project Natick proves a success, Microsoft envisages sinking groups of five of these cylinders and being able to deploy a data centre offshore in 90 days, whereas it could take years on land."
Want an Energy-Efficient Data Center? Build It Underwaterhttps://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/h...
"Sure, cooling computers with seawater would lower the air-conditioning bill and could improve operations in other ways, too, but submerging a data center comes with some obvious costs and inconveniences."
How to stop data centres from gobbling up the world’s electricityhttps://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...
"Already, data centres use an estimated 200 terawatt hours (TWh) each year. That is more than the national energy consumption of some countries, including Iran."
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