African data centres and Climate Change

It is a little known fact that the Internet is one of the largest contributors of carbon emissions.   (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/12/carbon-footprint-internet)
Today 9/21/2014[1] is a significant date in the climate change calendar,  being the largest climate march in history ( http://peoplesclimate.org)   It is a day when awareness of the impact of global warming will perhaps reach a critical mass and the decision-makers will finally wake up.  How many more Katrina’s,  Sandy’s or Haiyan’s will it take to shock the hardcore minority ( denialist’s and their patrons – i.e. the fossil fuel industry )  into realising that it can no longer be  “business as usual”.  

I work in the Internet industry – building data centres.   Our work is in Africa where the potential (negative) impact of climate change could be the highest of any region in the World.   As local weather patterns change, such as the decline in rainfall in the Sahel (particularly Sudan) over the last 50 years,  there is an every increasing chance that there will be an impact on regional stability when combined with other local factors.   Darfur is quoted by some sources as being perhaps the first climate change induced conflict, as the competition for diminishing resources between the northern pastoralists and southern agriculturalists eventually exploded into civil war (http://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2010/06/book-review-climate-conflict-how-global-warming-threatens-security-and-what-to-do-about-it-by-jeffrey-mazo/) 

There are a number of Sub-Saharan Africa states which are vulnerable to climate change.   However the net positive impact of delivering broadband services to these countries far outweighs the risks of climate change.   This is our focus.  We will employ the use of low carbon and renewable solutions in powering our data centres to deliver the ‘greenest’ Internet services possible.   So we are looking at using a combination of hydro, gas and solar generated electricity to power our data centres.  The proliferation of broadband services will impact favourably upon critical services like education and healthcare which in turn will lead to a healthier more educated public,  who then can make informed decisions e.g. elections.   

 By ensuring that data centres are eco-friendly we hope to stimulate a general trend toward renewable power supplies.    The local (versus centralised monolithic) generation and consumption of renewable energy, we believe, will have the greatest economic impact on peoples lives;   by improving their quality of life through increased reliable domestic as well as industrial power with the manifold benefits in education, enterprise development, health care and social upliftment.    There has already been a marked reduction in deaths caused by kerosene fires in rural areas with the introduction of solar lamps.  ( http://www.solar-aid.org/how-it-works/).   It is initiatives like these that,  when multiplied many times over,  will start to make a real difference to people’s live across the Continent.

Apple and Google have already shown their commitment to a green Internet by building solar powered data centres. (http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/07/08/apple-to-build-another-100-acre-solar-farm-for-north-carolina-data-center)  They have the wherewithal to do it – but at least they are leading by example. 

We aim to do the same in Africa. 




[1] to use the American convention

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