With the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals looming, Southeast Asia (SEA) continues to grapple with a complex interplay of environmental and economic challenges. While SEA’s startups are the driving force behind the region’s economic growth, they also contribute significantly to the carbon footprint.
As startups increasingly embrace AI, the global data storage capacity is projected to balloon by 18.5 per cent annually through 2027. With that, the demand for these facilities will inevitably rise. Yet, this digital boom comes with a significant cost – sustainability. Guzzling massive amounts of energy and water for cooling, data centres leave a hefty environmental footprint.
While advancements like renewable energy and hydrogen fuel cells hold promise for a more sustainable future, their current limitations underscore the urgency of immediate emissions reduction. Recent research also reveals a concerning trend: less than a third of Singaporean companies believe that net zero is achievable and are grappling with reporting carbon emissions due to a distinct lack of expertise, resources, and technology.
Business-as-usual is not an option for startups here. Ramping up efforts to cut emission levels will be especially crucial for SEA, given that its demand for energy is expected to triple by 2050. AI, while a powerful growth catalyst, must be harnessed sustainably to unlock the region’s full economic potential.
Higher demand, higher temperatures
Known for having a ravenous appetite for energy, data centres consume up to 50 times as much energy per floor space of a typical commercial office building – underpinned by thousands of high-performance servers. Globally, they devour approximately 1-1.5 per cent of electricity supply, with the projected demand to double by 2026 in just four years.
A major byproduct of data centres is heat generation. Maintaining optimal temperatures for server performance is essential, but many data centres in SEA face the challenge of operating in warm climates year-round. In this region, cooling accounts for 35 to 40 per cent of energy consumption in data centres – up to 10 percent more than the global average.
Heating up sustainability woes for startups
Despite growing awareness of sustainability in SEA, the gap between intention and action among startups is significant. While a majority recognise its importance, many businesses are still experimenting with minimal changes to their operations.
Also Read: From silicon to sustainability: Data centres in a warming world
Making matters worse, many countries in SEA are emerging data centre markets, and the startup landscape in the region is still rapidly evolving. The fact remains that majority of data centres in emerging markets are not built as energy efficient as they can be. In fact, over 95 per cent of data centres still rely on traditional air-cooling as opposed to the more efficient liquid cooling method.
Moreover, the surge in startup AI adoption is also driving increased demand for data centres. With AI poised to drive a 160 per cent increase in data centre power demand, energy output will only increase. As AI workloads require substantial processing power and storage capacity, the resulting heat output necessitates increased energy consumption to maintain optimal operating temperatures.
The high energy consumption of data centres, driven largely by the growing demands of startups, is resulting in increased electricity costs for businesses relying on cloud services or data centre hosting. Startups, operating with limited budgets and resources compared to larger corporations, face a significant challenge in balancing technological adoption with financial sustainability. Data centre operators must now prioritise cooling systems capable of handling heavy computing and powering huge advances in AI, while maintaining performance efficiency and safeguard hardware integrity.
Keeping it cool
While renewable energy and hydrogen fuel cells offering a sustainable way to generate energy, their Achilles’ heel is intermittency – making them unreliable for data centres that require guaranteed always-on flow of electricity to provide uninterrupted services. On the other hand, hydrogen fuel cells, another contender for sustainable data centre power, are still in the early stages of development, leading to high upfront costs for installation and maintenance compared to traditional power sources.
Water-cooling offers a promising solution to SEA’s data centre heat and humidity issues. Yet, not all water-cooling systems are made equally – if overly reliant on evaporation for heat rejection, this will result in substantial water consumption.
In fact, research indicates that a 1-megawatt data centre employing traditional cooling methods consumes approximately 25 million litres of water annually. Overcoming this to optimise water usage in cooling data centres will be critical for data centre operators to truly build more sustainable data centres here.
Also Read: How a data-driven approach can optimise decarbonisation in the built environment
Since power consumption is directly linked to cooling, there is substantial potential for adopting greener and less energy-intensive solutions. One effective method of water-cooling is cooling components directly, which can significantly reduce both water and electricity consumption, thereby mitigating environmental impact. By using proprietary systems, components like chips and network gear can be cooled directly with a closed-loop water system. This eliminates the need for air conditioning and allows for higher server density, which is particularly advantageous in space-constrained countries.
Encouragingly, markets like Thailand are already adopting these methods, with countries like Vietnam planning to follow suit in the coming years. This shift is expected to transform energy usage in data centres across the region, moving away from the more energy-intensive air-cooling methods.
Startups, agile and deeply rooted in local communities, are uniquely positioned to spearhead sustainability initiatives from the ground up. Their power to innovate, shape supply chains, and engage with local stakeholders makes them indispensable to global sustainability efforts.
When selecting cloud solutions, startups should prioritise providers that align with their sustainability goals. Factors such as resource efficiency, supply chain management, and ethical sourcing can offer valuable insights into a provider’s commitment to social responsibility. By investing in emissions reduction, startups can reap substantial rewards, including improved efficiency, cost savings, and compliance with environmental regulations.
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