Digital technologies are the key to the sustainable transformation of cities and municipalities. According to a recent study by eco – Association of the Internet Industry, together with Arthur D. Little, digital levers in urban areas alone can save up to 43 megatons of CO₂ by 2050.
To achieve the predicted CO₂ savings potential, it is essential to develop a high-performance ecosystem of digital infrastructures. “High-performance data centres enable all the technological applications in numerous economic and life sectors that positively impact Germany’s and Europe’s CO₂ footprint. They form the backbone of digitalisation in Germany,” says Dr. Béla Waldhauser, Spokesperson for the eco-founded Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany.
Waldhauser particularly emphasises the energy efficiency benefits that the strategic use of waste heat from data centres can have, especially in district development: “The new Frankfurt residential quarter, Franky, which will be ready for occupancy this year and will be heated 80% by waste heat from the adjacent Telehouse data centre, is just one of many successful projects demonstrating how data centres can contribute to more sustainability, especially in urban areas,” says Waldhauser.
As Waldhauser argues, the ongoing location debate – particularly in digital capital Frankfurt, concerning the undesired establishment of data centres – is incomprehensible, especially regarding the legally mandated use of waste heat from data centres. He points to additional positive value-added effects of data centres, such as job creation and their role as drivers of data centres for highly innovative developments: for example in the AI sector, as shown in a recent study by the eco Association together with the IW Cologne on the spillover effects of data centres. “There are numerous reasons why we need data centres in Frankfurt, as well as in all other cities and metropolitan areas in Germany. A ‘not in my backyard’ discussion ultimately harms the digital hub Frankfurt and the digital hub Germany,” says Waldhauser.
Waldhauser’s comments respond to a demand by the German Trade Union Confederation, which proposes that data centres in Frankfurt should no longer be built in the city, but only in industrial zones where data centres already exist.
