Innovative project will deliver 9 MW of energy and reduce CO2 emissions

In Great Britain an interesting project was presented that will utilize the waste heat from data centers as energy sources for nearby apartment buildings. The data center Telehouse West, planned to be completed in 2010, will provide about 9 MW of energy for the surrounding residential area. Simultaneously the CO2 emissions of the nine-story building will be reduced by 1100 tons annually by capturing the heat of the data center and using it for other purposes. "Such concepts are no longer really new. In Austria there were also plans to heat a public swimming pool with the waste heat of a data center," advises Andreas Neuhold, Product Sales Lead, Systems Practice at Sun Microsystems. The implementation of the ambitious idea in Austria finally failed due to protest on the part of neighbors.

Despite the fact that many similar concepts exist to date only on paper, it is clear that the topics of energy efficiency and environmental protection have risen in importance on the IT sector. "If you look at how much energy costs have escalated in this field recently, then it is clear why companies are looking for more efficient solutions,” says Neuhold. He sees the project presented in Great Britain as certainly a step in the right direction. "The trend is toward holistic thinking. This includes the endeavor to not waste energy senselessly but instead to return it to the system in a targeted way. This results in a closed system that can reward companies with massive cost savings," explains Neuhold.

Source: Pressetext.at