HP announces new zero energy datacenter

IT giant HP has unveiled its plans for new datacenters free from grid electricity. The plans mean the company could cut costs by up to 80 per cent. Announced by HP Labs, the ‘Net-Zero Energy Data Centre’ will use renewable energy sources and cut total power usage by 30 per cent through demand management. Datacenters use large quantities of energy for cooling their servers.

Demand management is key to the new centres to go alongside renewable energy plans. Non-critical work will be carried out when demand is low or when the solar panels are producing their maximum energy. It will be a complex management system, but will allow datacenters to move away from grid energy and improve the end service to the customer.

Cullen Bash is interim Director of the Sustainable Ecosystems Research Group at HP Labs. He says, "Information technology has the power to be an equalizer across societies globally, but the cost of IT services, and by extension the cost of energy, is prohibitive and inhibits widespread adoption".

"The HP Net-Zero Energy Data Center not only aims to minimise the environmental impact of computing, but also has a goal of reducing energy costs associated with datacenter operations to extend the reach of IT accessibility globally."

Apple are also in the news for the development of 20MW of onsite renewables to power their datacenters. They have been under pressure from campaign groups for a lack of progress on environmental issues.