Energy consumption & carbon emissions of data centers
Global energy usage
IEA (2023)
IEA (2023), Data Centres and Data Transmission Networks, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/energy-system/buildings/data-centres-and-data-transmission-networks, License: CC BY 4.0
Global GHG emissions:
The data centres and data transmission networks1 that underpin digitalisation accounted for around 330 Mt CO2 equivalent in 2020 (including embodied emissions), equivalent to 0.9% of energy-related GHG emissions (or 0.6% of total GHG emissions). Since 2010, emissions have grown modestly despite rapidly growing demand for digital services, thanks to energy efficiency improvements, renewable energy purchases by information and communications technology (ICT) companies and broader decarbonisation of electricity grids in many regions. However, to get on track with the NZE Scenario, emissions must halve by 2030.
Global energy consumption:
Estimated global data centre electricity consumption in 2022 was 240-340 TWh1, or around 1-1.3% of global final electricity demand. This excludes energy used for cryptocurrency mining, which was estimated to be around 110 TWh in 2022, accounting for 0.4% of annual global electricity demand.
Global trends in digital and energy indicators, 2015-2021:
| 2015 | 2022 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 3 billion | 5.3 billion | +78% |
| Internet traffic | 0.6 ZB | 4.4 ZB | +600% |
| Data centre workloads | 180 million | 800 million | +340% |
| Data centre energy use (excluding crypto) | 200 TWh | 240-340 TWh | +20-70% |
| Crypto mining energy use | 4 TWh | 100-150 TWh | +2300-3500% |
| Data transmission network energy use | 220 TWh | 260-360 TWh | +18-64% |
table copied 2024-03-05
Masanet et al. (2020)
Overview by David Mytton
How much energy do data centers use? · David Mytton
Server: 118W for single socket servers and 365W for two socket servers
Storage:
- HDD: 8.6W/disk in 2015, decreasing by 5 % every year
- SSD: 6W/disk
Network: 0.06 kWh/GB in 2015, decreasing by 50 % every two years
Infrastructure: Industry average PUE is 1.67 (2019)
Trends
Koomey, J., & Masanet, E. (2021)
Distribution of power usage
Efficiency
Optimize Server Utilization for Energy Efficiency
Embodied Carbon
Embodied carbon of ICT devices
CO2e emissions of cloud data storage
Estimates of different literature resources (copied from Why is it important to limit infobesity in Microsoft 365? | Thibault Joubert):
| Source | Value (for 1 GB) | Scope | Methodology (with French energy mix: 80g CO2e per kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford (2017) | 250 g CO2e per year | Storage only | Estimation of 3 kWh per GB |
| Shift Project (2020) | 80 g CO2e per year | Storage only | Estimation of 1 kWh per GB with French “Caisse des Dépots” |
| Green Cloud Computing (2021) | 35g CO2e per year | Storage and datacenter | 0.65 W per hour per TB, 6x replication |
| Negaoctet (2022) | 12g CO2e per year | Storage and datacenter | From a Netflix storage analysis |
| ADEME (?) | 0.24 gCO2 per year | Storage and datacenter | Source from Negaoctet ? |
Note: the data correspond to the French energy mix which is particularly low in carbon (e.g. United States x6).
Metrics
→ Data Center Sustainability Metrics
Comparison to local data storage
- Storage of data locally on a hard drive consumes 3000 times less energy in many scenarios than if you stored it in the cloud (Gerry McGovern)
🔗 References
Isotopp – Data Centers and Energy
Gerry McGovern on Designing a Greener Web
Why is it important to limit infobesity in Microsoft 365? | Thibault Joubert