Europe will use the data centres of IT companies to heat homes during energy crisis

Europe is going through an energy crisis, therefore its governments are trying to figure out how to warm homes and offices using the electricity consumed for things like online surfing, phone calls, and video streaming. Reports  claimed that calls from European authorities to reroute the waste heat produced by computer chips into local heating networks have been sparked by huge increases in the use of power in data centers. More and more attempts are being put into action to utilise surplus heat rather than waste it by venting it outdoors. Large data centres from Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft announced plans to connect to district heating systems in Finland, Ireland, and Denmark last year. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Image credit- WSJ[/caption] Google, an Alphabet company, has disclosed that it is researching ways to recycle the heat generated by its European data centres. In order to recycle its waste heat, Meta's data centre in Odense, Denmark, was outfitted in 2020. The Facebook parent firm is putting that foundation in place now in order to be ready for next year, when it aims to have enough extra heat to warm about 11,000 homes. In the Netherlands, 10 data centres are already providing heat, while another 15 projects are being built or are being investigated, according to the Dutch Data Center Association, a trade association. Higher energy costs have increased the financial motivation for IT enterprises to invest in systems to sell excess heat, energy, and tech solutions as a result of Russia's decision to cut off the natural-gas supply during its invasion of Ukraine. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="2400"] Image credit- Financial Times[/caption] Tech industry executives point to public pressure to increase data centres' energy efficiency as a key contributing factor. The European Union (EU), according to reports, is debating a new energy-efficiency standard that would require centre operators to research using surplus heat for residences and offices. From France to Denmark, local and federal governments have created financial incentives or mandated that waste heat acquire a construction permit. Data centres are said to be the cause of about 1% of the world's energy demand, according to a paper that appeared in the journal Science in 2020. Despite the recent explosion in cloud service usage, this percentage has stayed largely steady. However, due to their increasing population and use in recent years, EU policymakers contend that data centres account for 3% or more of the power consumed in numerous nations.