Why waste the heat generated by the large data centers of companies like Amazon, Meta, Google or Apple if you can take advantage of it to heat homes? The current energy crisis that considerably affects Europe is forcing the countries that are part of the territory to seek alternatives to mitigate gas shortages and, therefore, to be able to heat both homes and workplaces. Luckily, they seem to have found a very workable solution.
According to The Wall Street Journalcompanies like Google or Amazon are experiencing an increase in the use of their services in the region, which makes their servers work more intensely and, therefore, their chips generate more heat.
Until now, that heat was wasted ventilating it outdoors. There is, however, a way to recycle it and use it to, for example, heat European homes. Simply using heat pumps that help capture and further heat the airto later distribute it to the district heating systems.
Google, Apple and Amazon already distribute excess heat from their data centers to homes in Europe
In fact, it is something that in Europe has been raised for years and that some companies have already begun to carry out in the face of the current energy crisis. Google, Apple and Amazon, for example, they already connect their data centers with the heating systems of countries such as Ireland, Denmark and Finland.
Others, like Meta, have already confirmed that they will do so soon. The firm founded and directed by Mark Zuckerberg, in fact, It has been storing the heat produced by the chips in its data centers since 2020 with the goal of providing heating to 11,000 homes starting next year.
The potential for excess heat from data centers to be used to heat homes It is something that in Europe has been considering for years. However, until now, the big technology companies have shown no interest in this regard. In fact, they might not have done it if it weren’t for the current energy situation.
The war in Ukraine and the Russian decision to limit the distribution of natural gas to Europe, has served for Big Tech to find a business opportunity, simply investing in systems capable of collecting and distributing the excess heat generated by its chips, to later sell it. In turn, companies can comply with one of the future measures of the European Union; that of increasing energy efficiency in data centers; facilities that worldwide, according to the magazine Sciencerepresent 1% of electricity consumption.