Minimising the energy consumption of data servers without reducing their performance is an ideal combination, which requires a vast amount of innovation before it is obtainable. To achieve this, the Amsterdam Economic Board has conducted research on the topic and on 21 January 2021 shared results on the Lower Energy Acceleration (LEAP) pilot. The finding of this project is in line with minimising data servers' energy consumption whilst maintaining performance levels and demonstrate that simply putting the servers into saving mode could lower the energy consumption by 10%.
The digitisation of the European economy means that more data is being generated, shared, and stored. Growth in data usage increases the demand for electrical energy. Hence, digitalising the European economy has a big impact on energy consumption within the EU. Besides its ambitious goals in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data and Cloud Computing, the EU also has high-reaching climate ambitions. To achieve success in both areas, it is crucial to make the European digital economy more eco-friendly without lowering the quality.
At the end of 2019, the ING bank estimated that the share of data-driven electricity will increase from 3% to at least 5%. However, this is already considering energy efficiency gains, because without these gains this share would increase to more than 30%. Therefore, research such as the one conducted by the LEAP is crucial to prepare the European economy for the future.
Next to the research and findings of the Amsterdam Economic Board, there are other organisations that are trying to tackle this issue. For example, the European Commission also published a study in November 2020 titled “Energy-efficient cloud computing technologies”.
The Advanced Technology for Industry (ATI) project has recently published a Technology Watch report on Cloud Computing. At the same time, the Technology Watch of the ATI page also covers several other interesting subjects related to Cloud Computing such as the relevant trends shaping the cloud market and strategies around migration to multi-cloud environments. For more information on advanced technologies in Europe, explore the ATI project website.