Data Centers and Advanced Microgrids — The Impact of the New Digital Economy on Data Centers

The forecasted growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and the rapid uptake of cloud-based applications to manage the emerging digital economy speak to a fundamental fact: the role data centers will play in daily life will continue to grow exponentially over time. Millennials are growing up in a world where data drives their lives. One million new devices are expected to come online per hour by 2020. By 2025, 60% of computing is expected to take place in the cloud. Entertainment, fundamental comfort, communications, and even transportation are all being interwoven, with systems dependent on massive amounts of high speed data transfers. Data centers need to maintain uptime under all circumstances.

The digitization of products and services is largely dependent upon them having reliable electricity. If done right, the shift to electricity can offer enormous advantages in terms of resource productivity and a more sustainable economy. If data centers do not take advantage of new energy technology innovations, massive inefficiency could doom the socalled fourth industrial revolution promise of sustainability via digital innovations. The ramifications for developing countries and the rest of the world are significant in terms of climate change impacts if measured on an emissions per capita basis.

This new report from Navigant Research and Schneider Electric focuses on the connection between data centers and advanced microgrids.