Welcome to the March eNewsletter from Storage magazine, which includes a thought-provoking article on sustainability and data centres - two things that, if you believed some of the recent press coverage, you might never imagine going hand in hand. With all the focus at the moment on energy costs, we could be excused for assuming that environmental impacts were perhaps taking a back seat in terms of priorities for data centre operators.

David Watkins of Virtus explains in his piece here that such a view could hardly be further from the truth. In fact, the data centre industry has long been committed to ensuring sustainability and efficiency, with providers working hard to use resources responsibly. Companies in the sector are committed to innovative and operate sustainability with renewable strategies that include 'green' renewable sources of power, rainwater harvesting, zero water cooling systems, recycling, waste management and much more.

"Many data centre providers are demonstrably driving change and leading by example, showing other sectors that it is possible to 'green' even the most power intensive industry," says Watkins. "Ultimately, the misleading headlines are doing a disservice to an industry which is committed to boosting sustainability and mitigating its environmental impact. However, it must be recognised that, as well as the significant progress, there is still work to be done and providers are setting themselves ambitious sustainability targets as they work to meet net zero obligations in the years ahead."

The reality is that society and businesses need data centres as the critical infrastructure underpinning the economy and modern life, so it's important for people outside of the industry to recognise that data centres are fundamental to how everything functions.

David Tyler, Editor
Storage magazine

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