Europe is experiencing an energy crisis, so its governments are looking at ways to repurpose the power used for things like online browsing, phone calls, and video streaming to warm homes and workplaces.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), significant increases in the use of electricity in data centers have prompted calls from European authorities to redirect the waste heat produced by computer chips into local heating networks.

Tech Industry's Initiatives

More and more initiatives are being implemented to put excess heat to use instead of wasting it by venting it outside.

Last year, large data centers from Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft were either connected to district heating systems in Ireland, Denmark, and Finland or announced intentions to do so. 

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, recently revealed that it is looking into ways to reuse the heat produced by its European data centers.

Since 2020, Meta's data center in Odense, Denmark, has been equipped to recycle its waste heat. The parent company of Facebook is presently building that foundation in preparation for next year, when it hopes to provide enough surplus heat to warm approximately 11,000 households.

As per the Dutch Data Center Association, a trade organization, 10 data centers in the Netherlands are already delivering heat, while another 15 projects are being constructed or explored.

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Motivation to Act

Due to Russia's decision to shut off the natural-gas supply during its invasion of Ukraine, higher energy costs have enhanced the financial incentive for IT businesses to invest in systems to sell surplus heat, energy, and tech solutions.

Executives in the tech field cite public pressure to improve data centers' energy efficiency as a primary factor. 

Reports indicate that the European Union (EU) is discussing a new energy-efficiency guideline that would oblige center operators to study utilizing surplus heat for homes and workplaces.

Local and national governments from France to Denmark have established financial incentives or made waste heat obtain a construction permit requirement.

Other Use for Data Centers

According to a report published in the journal Science in 2020, data centers are responsible for around 1% of global power demand. 

This percentage has remained relatively stable despite the rapid growth of cloud services in recent years. However, EU policymakers argue that data centers are responsible for 3% or more of power consumption in several countries due to their growing population and use in recent years.

An EU-funded initiative called ReUseHeat found that data centers located near district heating systems might supply as much as 50 terawatt-hours per year of extra heat. Per the Eurostat estimates in 2020, it would amount to between 2% and 3% of the energy consumed by EU homes for space heating.

For at least a decade, IT firms have promoted the concept of directing the heat produced by their massive racks into such systems to make their facilities more energy efficient and help them achieve emissions goals. 

Nevertheless, putting the ideas into effect has been difficult for legal and technological reasons.

One reason is that most data centers use air-based cooling, and the warm air they release is not nearly as hot as what is needed to power most municipal heating systems. To get the air to a comfortable temperature, the tech business or its power provider partner will need to install heat pumps.

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