The data center of the future might do more than crunch and store information.
In addition to serving web pages, streaming Netflix videos, and hosting social networks, data centers might produce their own power.
Data centers consume a lot of energy. In the United States, data centers used 76 GWh of electricity in 2010 (or roughly 2 percent of the country’s energy usage, according to a report in the New York Times. Therefore, companies are looking for ways to reduce energy usage and pollution while maintaining reliability.
A team of researchers at Microsoft is studying how they could bring the power plant into the data center itself to improve efficiency and reliability using fuel cell technology.
“We are taking an unconventional approach to power a datacenter entirely by fuel cells integrated directly into the server racks. This brings the power plant inside the datacenter, effectively eliminating energy loss that otherwise occurs in the energy supply chain and doubling the efficiency of traditional data centers”, writes Sean James, Senior Research Program Manager for Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services (the group that manages the company’s data centers).
Data centers typically source electricity from utilities (or in some cases provided by onsite renewable generation). If electricity is purchased from the grid, it is likely produced using some form of combustion. First, fuel is combusted to spin a turbine (either directly in a gas cycle or using steam). The turbine blade then spins a generator to produce electricity, which is then transmitted and distributed along wires until it gets to the data center.
The laws of thermodynamics tell us to expect losses at each of the stages, so much so that only 20 percent of the energy produced at the power plant makes it to the server rack. Losses occur every time energy changes form (say, going from chemical energy in the fuel to thermal energy in steam, to mechanical energy of a spinning turbine blade, and so forth).
By eliminating the number of energy conversions, James and his team have found they can double the efficiency to 40 percent.
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Datacenter power
- Energy shift a threat to Louisiana, global warming not as much, says Times-Picayune Power Pollon March 5, 2021 at 2:21 pm
If Louisiana is counting on surviving the transition from oil and gas to renewable energy without major economic damage, it might be drilling a dry hole, according to The Times-Picayune Power Poll.
- Data Center UPS Market Report 2021- Global Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts to 2026 - ResearchAndMarkets.comon March 5, 2021 at 2:07 pm
The "Data Center UPS Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Owing to the explosion of data related services, ...
- Texas power crisis highlights US energy security challengeson March 5, 2021 at 5:04 am
February’s devastating winter storms that took data centers offline and left millions freezing put US resilience into sharp focus ...
- Cologix plans 'hyperscale' data center, doubling its Columbus capacityon March 5, 2021 at 3:25 am
Cologix already by far has the largest data centers in Central Ohio that aren't tied to one specific cloud service or internet carrier. Now it's picked Columbus for one of four mega-size facilities in ...
- Data Center Rack Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Market | Emerging Trends, Technological Innovation and Forecasts To 2027on March 4, 2021 at 9:26 pm
Global Data Center Rack Power Distribution Unit (PDU) industry valued approximately USD 1 billion in 2016 is anticipated ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Datacenter power
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Powering datacenters
- Global Modular Data Centers Market 2020 Top Industry Trend and Segments Analysis upto 2025on March 7, 2021 at 1:23 pm
A new offering by MarketsandResearch.biz entitled Global Modular Data Centers Market 2020 by Company, Regions, ...
- ComEd says it's powering toward a record profiton March 5, 2021 at 12:58 pm
Commonwealth Edison still is weathering the disgrace of last year's admission to nearly a decade of influence peddling and bribery in Springfield, but it's a new year, and the utility is predicting a ...
- In a Year, You’ll Be Glad You Bought Plug Power Stock Todayon March 5, 2021 at 7:21 am
Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips. Shares of hydrogen fuel cell maker Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) have been hammered amid the recent tech sector meltdown ...
- Texas power crisis highlights US energy security challengeson March 5, 2021 at 5:04 am
February’s devastating winter storms that took data centers offline and left millions freezing put US resilience into sharp focus ...
- Data Centers Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Trends and Forecast 2019 - 2025on March 5, 2021 at 2:37 am
The latest report on Data Centers Market by Infinium Global Research gives complete coverage of the data centers market by type (mega/ hyperscale data centers, colocation data centers, enterprise data ...