Featured Resources
Data Center Map
Hosted by Data Center Map, this map shows the location of over 2,000 data centers across the United States, with additional information about each center. Click on the image above to access the full map, or visit the following link: https://www.datacentermap.com/usa
Data Center Carbon Footprint Calculator
Developed by the Schneider Electric Data Center, this calculator allows users to input specific energy usage rates to determine a data center's carbon emissions. Click on the image above to access the full calculator, or visit the following link: https://www.se.com/ww/en/work/solutions/system/s1/data-center-and-network-systems/trade-off-tools/data-center-carbon-footprint-comparison-calculator/
Carbon Footprint of Data Centers & Data Storage Per Country (Calculator)
Hosted through 8 Billion Trees, this resource provides background information on data center sustainability and offers numerous emissions calculators for people, laptops, rental cars, and more. Click on the image above to access the full article, or visit the following link: https://8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/carbon-ecological-footprint-calculators/carbon-footprint-of-data-centers/
Cloud Carbon Emissions Measurement and Analysis Tool
Free, open-source tool for organizations to measure their cloud computing emissions. Click on the image above for an overview of the tool, or visit the following link: https://www.cloudcarbonfootprint.org/docs/
Online Articles
2024
- A utility promised to stop burning coal. Then Google and Meta came to town (2024, October 8)Written by Evan Halper in The Washington Post
- Big Tech proposes power-rate terms in Ohio data-center fight (2024, October 10)Reported by Laila Kearney in Reuters
- Utilities Must Reinvent Themselves to Harness the AI-Driven Data Center Boom (2024, October 10)Written by Maeghan Rouch, Aaron Denman, Peter Hanbury, Paul Renno, and Ellyn Gray in Bain & Company
- Data centers are suddenly everywhere — but some say "no thanks" (2024, October 13)Written by Asher Price & Mimi Montgomery in Axios
- A new Denver data center could use as much water as 16,000 people every day. Should the city give it a tax break? (2024, October 14)Written by Elise Schmelzer in The Denver Post
- Cooling system incident injures one at Hong Kong data center - update (2024, October 14)Written by Dan Swinhoe in Data Center Dynamics
- Major battery energy storage system in Arizona supports Meta data center (2024, October 15)Written by Tristan Rayner in PV Magazine
- What the real estate industry needs to know about data centers (2024, October 15)Interview with McKinsey and Co. senior partner Pankaj Sachdeva.
2023
- Will AI queries increase Data Centre energy use by an order of magnitude? (2023, November 9)Written by Meredith Fowlie in Energy Post EU
- Grab Power While You Can: Electricity is the new gold in the race to build more data centers (2023, November)Written by Ron Starner in Site Selection Magazine
- Data Centers Are Booming (2023, October 9)Written by Meredith Fowlie in Energy Institute Blog
- Q&A: UW researcher discusses just how much energy ChatGPT uses (2023, July 27)Written by Sarah McQuate in UW News
- Data center operators will face more grid disturbances (2023, June 28)Written by Jacqueline Davis in Uptime Institute
- A new front in the water wars: Your internet use (2023, April 25)Written by Shannon Osaka in The Washington Post
- Artificial Intelligence Is Booming—So Is Its Carbon Footprint (2023, March 9)Written by Josh Saul & Dina Bass in Bloomberg
2022
- Hyperscalers Take Data Center Absorption to New Levels (2022, October)Written by Ron Starner in Site Selection Magazine
- The Staggering Ecological Impacts of Computation and the Cloud (2022, Februray 14)Written by Stephen Gonzalez Monserrate in The MIT Press Reader
2021
- We are ignoring the true cost of water guzzling data centres (2021, October 19)Written by Masaō Ashtine & David Mytton in The Conversation
- Drought-stricken communities push back against data centers (2021, June 19)Written by Olivia Solon in NBC News
- The internet consumes extraordinary amounts of energy. Here’s how we can make it more sustainable (2021, June 9)Written by Jeff Kettle in The Conversation
- Renewable Energy Alone Can’t Address Data Centers’ Adverse Environmental Impact (2021, May 3)Written by Asaf Ezra in Forbes
- Air-Conditioning the Internet: Data Center Securitization as Atmospheric Media (2021, April 26)Written by Jeffrey Moro in Media Fields Journal
- Microsoft, Amazon and Google Account for Over Half of Today’s 600 Hyperscale Data Centers (2021, January 26)Report published by Synergy Research Group
2020
- New Concepts of the Sustainable Data Center Arise Amid an Evolving Market (2020, December 9)Written by Paul Gillin in Data Center Frontier
Additional Resources
- Data Center Carbon Footprint: Concepts and MetricsChapter from the resource "Data Center Infrastructure Management: A Comprehensive Guide" that provides definitions for key concepts related to data center sustainability.
- The Cloud Is Material: On the Environmental Impacts of Computation and Data Storage (2022)Case study written by Steven Gonzalez Monserrate in MIT Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities in Computing
- Sensing Data Centres (2021)Chapter written by A.R.E. Taylor & Julia Velkova in the freely available ebook "Sensing In/Security: Sensors as Transnational Security Infrastructures"
- Data Center MetricsOverview of calculations used to determine energy consumption rates (PUE, WUE, etc.) of data centers.
Journal Articles
Note: All journal articles linked on this guide are open-access and do not require a UR institutional account to access.