Data center builders who need power must navigate changing rules, unpredictable demands — and be prepared to trade.
The European Commission aims to ease climate risk reporting by removing mid-cap operators from CSRD's scope and delaying reports till 2028. But under current rules, 2025 reports are required and foreign-owned mid-cap operators stay covered.
Results from the Uptime Institute Sustainability and Climate Change Survey 2024 reveal how operators navigate climate change risks while expanding efforts to improve their environmental footprint.
Uptime Institute provided three documents to the EU Commission and their consultants, Ernest and Young and Borderstep, in response to two surveys. The surveys are intended to gather data to facilitate the development of a data center labeling/rating ...
Critics argue that data center water use is excessive and poorly managed. Operators should select a cooling system to fit the local climate and available water supply, explaining water use within the context of local conditions.
The US’ SEC has withdrawn requirements for climate risk reporting, and the EU is revising its rules. Despite this, strong drivers remain for operators to measure their environmental impact
SMRs promise to usher in an era of dispatchable low-carbon energy. At present, however, their future is a blurry expanse of possibilities rather than a clear path ahead, as key questions of costs, timelines and operations remain.
Rapidly increasing electricity demand requires new generation capacity to power new data centers. What are some of the new, innovative power generation technology and procurement options being developed to meet capacity growth and what are their pote...
The European Commission, with the assistance of operators, needs to correct ambiguities in the EED reporting processes. Industry solutions can improve the quality and completeness of the submitted data.
The European Commission will soon publish its delegated report, recommending a data center rating scheme and performance standards. The accelerated timeline is too short to facilitate meaningful evaluation of these topics.
The cost of low-carbon green hydrogen will be prohibitive for primary power for many years. Some operators may adopt high-carbon (polluting) gray hydrogen ahead of transitioning to green hydrogen
Data centers are being included in national development plans as a source of economic growth. While this will ease operators’ access to land and power, it will also lead to more scrutiny from government and regulation.
The data center industry’s growth projections can be met by combining energy supply growth and demand reduction. Highly utilized IT infrastructure and efficient software can mitigate demand growth while delivering needed IT capacity.
Uptime Institute's Climate Change and Sustainability Survey (n=974) benchmarks data center capacity trends and looks at IT growth rates and how operators are adding data center capacity by building new and/or expanding existing facilities. The survey...
If adopted, the UNEP U4E server and storage product technical specifications may create a confusing and counter-productive regulatory structure. The current proposals are as likely to limit as improve data center operations' efficiency
Andy Lawrence
Peter Judge
Jay Dietrich
Seb Shehadi
Douglas Donnellan
Rose Weinschenk
Daniel Bizo
Anthony Sbarra
Laurie Williams