What comes next after diesel generators? We dive into the future of backup power, as data center operators are test-driving fuels using vegetable oil and forestry byproducts, fuel cells powered by hydrogen and natural gas, and large lithium-ion batteries.
Aligned Lines Up Additional $250 Million in Green Growth Capital
By delivering on its sustainability commitments, Aligned has added $250 million in expansion capital, expanding its sustainability-linked senior credit line to $1.25 billion.
Microsoft Outlines Its Vision For a Zero-Carbon Cloud, Around the Clock
Microsoft has outlined a vision to run its Azure “planetary computer” and its 4 million servers using entirely zero-carbon sources, including hourly matching of renewable energy.
Drought, Extreme Heat Sharpen Focus on Data Center Water Usage
Extreme heat and drought in the Western US is bringing sharper scrutiny of data center water use, and testing assumptions about climate in some data center destinations. The heightened awareness of water constraints is raising the bar for data center developers.
10 Gigawatts: Amazon Hits Milestone in Renewable Energy Purchasing
Newly-announced solar and wind projects bring Amazon’s total renewable energy investments to date to 10 gigawatts (GW), and amplifies the huge role of cloud computing platforms in leading a society-wide transition to renewable energy.
Microsoft Begins Using Eco-Diesel in Data Center Generators
Microsoft will begin using lower-carbon renewable fuel for data center generators at its cloud region in Sweden, advancing Microsoft’s goal of ending its reliance on diesel fuel by the year 2030.
The Top 10 Data Center Stories for May 2021
The industry’s largest players and markets topped the news last month. Here are the 10 most popular stories on Data Center Frontier during May 2021.
The Cloud is a Catalyst and It’s Also a Competitive Benchmark
The cloud is not only a catalyst. Because it’s a great option for most applications, it has become a competitive benchmark. Enterprise IT leaders must be good stewards of their company’s resources by deploying and managing infrastructure in facilities that meet the same benchmarks as the cloud service providers do. Insights from Chris Bair of Stream Data Centers.
The Greening of Cryptocurrency: Early Players in Sustainable Blockchain
There are promising initiatives underway to create a sustainable blockchain sector. Here’s an overview of these initiatives, which include renewable power, energy-efficient protocols, carbon offsets, demand response and greener mining pools.
The Bitcoin Energy Debate: Lessons from the Data Center Industry
Bitcoin isn’t the first technology to come under fire about its energy use. A decade after facing similar critiques, the data center industry has become a key player in renewable energy and sustainability. We look at cloud computing’s energy journey, and the lessons – and potential roadmap – it provides for the Bitcoin sector.
Data Center Frontier is edited by Rich Miller, the data center industry’s most experienced journalist. For more than 20 years, Rich has profiled the key role played by data centers in the Internet revolution.