Large amounts of fossil fuels are burned to power the data centres from which we get our Netflix, Apple TV+ and Disney+ shows. One group of scientists are now hopeful this is only temporary. — Photo: Matthias Balk/dpa
WASHINGTON: Soaring energy costs and pressure on electricity grids have prompted growing scrutiny of the global data centre business and its carbon footprint.
The centres house the world’s billions of social media, email and cloud computing accounts, while also powering streaming platforms like Netflix, and can use up to 50 times as much energy as an office building of the same size, according to the US government's National Science Foundation (NSF).
In the US, where over 2,500 or around 4 in 10 of the world’s data centres are located, including some run by tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Facebook, they account for around 2% of electricity use.
Streaming content in high quality comes with a bad conscience for some consumers, as environmentalists have debated the power usage of streaming platforms, reliant on fossil fuels being burned to deliver content to subscribers.
But NSF-funded research by Oregon State and Baylor universities could lead to a "breakthrough" in reducing the centres’ appetites for electricity, specifically consumption by photonic chips used in supercomputers, which need "significant energy to keep their temperature stable and performance high."
"The circuitry in photonic chips uses photons – particles of light – rather than the electrons that course through conventional computer chips. Moving at the speed of light, photons enable the extremely rapid, energy-efficient transmission of data," the NSF said.
"We were able to make working prototypes that show temperature can be controlled via gate voltage, which means using virtually no electric current," said Oregon State University’s John Conley.
The could assuage the consciences of hundreds of millions of people who worry about energy consumption and climate change but do not want to curtail their high-quality video streaming.
"Our method is much more acceptable for the planet," said Conley, a co-author of the research, which was published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. "It will one day allow data centres to keep getting faster and more powerful while using less energy." – dpa
