May 12, 2023, /CGTN/ - Dozens of data centers in China have been recognized for their work to increase energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. It's part of a government drive to reduce the environmental impact of the country's digital infrastructure industry. Guo Tianqi has more.
Forty-three facilities are recognized in the Chinese government's National Green Data Center list for 2022, released at a conference in Chengdu.
Public institutions, internet companies, and enterprises can build their own data centers to store and process data, and provide services for their users.
China's data centers used 216 billion KWH of power in 2021, and carbon emissions reached 135 million tons, accounting for around one percent of the country's total emissions.
The government believes more needs to be done to reduce the industry's carbon footprint.
HUANG LIBIN Director-general of Department, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology "The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will continue to set the national benchmark for green data centers, accelerate the popularization and application of energy-saving technology and equipment."
Power Usage Effectiveness, or PUE, is calculated by dividing a data center's overall power consumption by the amount of power used by the IT equipment inside it.
The closer the value is to 1, the higher the efficiency level.
CAO XUEQIN Deputy Secretary-General, Chinese Institute of Electronics "Currently, the average PUE of large data centers under construction nationwide has reached 1.27, it's a international advanced level."
Many data centers have been built in western China because of the region's cool climate and abundant supply of electricity.
At the Chengdu conference, participants gained insight into how data centers operate.
GUO TIANQI Chengdu, Sichuan Province "This exhibition demonstrates the whole industrial chain of a data center, including the provider of servers, CPU, and some evaluation institutes, and they can even produce a module like this, including a cooling sector, electricity supply, and even a robot inside to monitor the operation all the time."
China has set decarbonization targets for the digital infrastructure industry with the aim of making it more reliant on renewable energy, and reducing its potential future impact on climate change.
Guo Tianqi, CGTN, Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
