Jukka Manner, a professor of Information Network Technology at Aalto University, says that nearly all of the electricity server farms use is converted to heat energy.
According to Manner, a lot of people are not aware of all the emissions they themselves produce by surfing the internet. Users often think only in terms of their own equipment.
“Many people don’t see the whole IT-infrastructure, that’s needed in the background.”
Cheaper to let waste energy escape
Electricity is two to three times cheaper in Finland than, for example, in continental Europe. Manner states that inexpensive electricity means that firms are reluctant to invest in expensive green technology. He forecasts that this may change as the cost of electricity increases.
“Heat recycling is only small-scale in Finland,” said Manner. “It demands industry or residential homes nearby that could use the heat. If the server farm is located some distance from users, it is a lot cheaper to let the waste energy escape into the air or the sea.”
Google’s major server farm in Hamina uses electricity produced from hydropower. That is positive, according to Manner, but the company could do even more.
“This is a huge source of energy that could be developed if the will was there,” notes Manner. “In many cases the investment in energy-saving pays for itself in a year or two.”
Google's Hamina servers have a permit to use enough electricity to heat 10,000 electricity-heated private homes. The issue of Google's use of heat produced as a by-product was reported first in the Finnish weekly Tietoviikko.