The Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany, founded under the umbrella of the eco Association, welcomes the fact that the EU Commission wants to implement the planned CO2 reduction of 55 percent by the year 2030 on the basis of the planned “Fit for 55” package.
“If policymakers now invest equally in research and funding for energy-efficient digital infrastructures, as well as in a swift restructuring of the energy system, this will significantly increase the potential for CO2 savings,” says Dr Béla Waldhauser, spokesperson for the Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany. “Digitalisation is part of the solution to tackle the climate crisis. With its reform proposals, the EU Commission is giving an important political signal; now the Member States must quickly create suitable framework conditions.”
A prerequisite for this, however, is that sufficient renewable electricity is available on the market at competitive industrial prices, warns Waldhauser. Furthermore, the EU Commission wants to set more binding targets for the Energy Efficiency Directive, among other things. The Alliance, which consists of important industry representatives from the digital infrastructure ecosystem, welcomes the fact that, among other things, the waste heat utilisation of data centres is to be included and promoted in future activities.
How high the sustainability potential of European data centres is, is also shown in a borderstep study published by the eco Alliance with the support of the Vodafone Institute in 2020. In Germany, in particular, an accelerated energy transition, which further optimises the energy mix provided, can help to reduce CO2 emissions even more rapidly. At the same time, technologies in the area of cooling and climate control, and in particular waste heat recovery, have the greatest potential for increasing the energy efficiency of data centres.
