White paper – How to reduce the energy consumption and carbon footprint of data centres and it rooms?

Can information systems meet tomorrow’s environmental challenges?

The rapid evolution of digital usage and the accelerated growth of data exchanges have sparked a race to develop digital infrastructures. This trend shows no sign of slowing down with the rise of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and cloud services, leading to the construction of data centers and raising geographical, energy, and climate-related issues.

This situation brings the environmental impact of these uses into question. When measuring the annual electricity consumption of data centers, we find figures ranging from 240 to 340 TWh/year, representing between 1 and 1.3% of global electricity consumption. This energy consumption also results in significant greenhouse gas emissions and the production of electronic waste, given the increasing demand for digital services.

In this context, we offer our vision of more responsible digital practices, starting with eco-design at the core of our product and service development. Our Green IT approach, implemented across the group, challenges our production processes and emphasizes optimizing the four major environmental impact areas of data centers:

• Energy consumption
• Water consumption and discharge
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Waste production and the lifecycle of electronic equipment