PRESS RELEASE, 02/11/2020

Hamburg, Germany

Reducing Emissions of Digital Infrastructure and Strengthening the Digital Economy — Establishment of the Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance (SDIA)

The digital economy is already growing at a pace that poses significant environmental challenges. By the early 2030s, data centers could account for up to 13% of global electricity consumption. Within data centers, the inefficient use of hardware leads to unnecessary costs and waste: Globally, eight out of ten servers consume power even when idle. Even when no calculations are performed, servers emit heat — waste heat that dissipates unused.

Limiting the growth of digital technologies is not an option. What we need is an adaptation of the underlying digital infrastructure: reducing its emissions to net zero, ensuring sustainable growth, and simultaneously keeping it open and accessible.

It is achievable. Renewable energy is abundantly available, and the power demand of data centers can be synchronized with weather-dependent energy production. Integrated into urban areas, digital infrastructure can provide emissions-free heat. Server hardware can be recycled to reduce waste. The efficiency of existing data centers can be increased by improving the utilization of unused servers.

SDIA members work in working groups to develop reference architectures, agree on common standards and best practices, and support the policy-making process. The goal of each group is to create blueprints for the successful commercial implementation of waste heat utilization and intelligent power consumption.

As an industry association, IDED (formerly SDIA) supports policy-making and the development of necessary standards for the digital infrastructure sector. Research and educational offerings are promoted to accelerate the spread of new technologies beyond the association's borders.

The Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance commenced its work on October 1, 2019, and welcomes all interested parties — energy suppliers, technology providers, data center operators, ICT companies as well as independent consultants and representatives from politics and science.