Digital infrastructures are the basis for more CO2 savings and more sustainability – thanks to digitalisation. However, to fully exploit these potentials, more interdisciplinary cooperation is needed.

The Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany, founded under the umbrella of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, warns against unrealistic obligations for data centre operators under the planned German Energy Efficiency Act. As part of the recently released draft act of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, waste heat levies of up to 40 per cent are included.

An electricity shortage in the energy crisis could have a negative impact on the operation of data centres and become a risk factor for user companies. Companies fear serious consequences for their business and call on the German federal government to include data centres in emergency plans.

Opencast lignite mining for power generation shaped the Rhenish region in the west of Germany for many decades. With the energy transition, the region is facing an economic structural change. But how can the former coal-mining region be transformed into an “Innovation Valley Rhineland”? Around 70 experts from the digital industry discussed this in Bedburg in October.