Session: 02-04 Building Envelope, Building Energy, and Data Centers

Paper Number: 107496

107496 - Data Center Environmental Burden Reduction Through On-Site Renewable Power Generation 

The energy demands from data centers contribute greatly to water stress and carbon pollution in specific locations. Understanding the use of on-site renewable power generation is an important step to gaining insight into a potential solution for more sustainable data centers. This study proposes using Water Scarcity Usage Effectiveness (WSUE), and Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE) at a US county scale to determine the extent that data center energy demands can impact water and carbon resources. We examine the potential savings in water resources and carbon pollution that can be achieved with on-site renewable power production for data centers, as well as assess the dependence of data center location on WSUE and CUE. The results show that on-site renewable energy sources have significant potential to improve the CUE of data centers, as well as the potential to improve WSUE in specific locations. The results suggest that significant improvements can be made in reducing water stress and carbon pollution from data centers in many counties around the country.

Presenting Author: Aaron Wemhoff Villanova University

Presenting Author Biography: Aaron Wemhoff is an Associate Professor in the Villanova Department of Mechanical Engineering. He is the Former Villanova Site Director of the National Science Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Center in Energy-Smart Electronic Systems (ES2), which focuses on improving the energy efficiency of data centers.