A new report commissioned by Nutanix on improving sustainability in data centres has revealed how next-generation data centre architectures – including hybrid cloud and hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) – can significantly reduce energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, and drive cost savings across the EMEA region.
► Highlights impact of hyperconverged infrastructure, hybrid cloud and leveraging on-demand computing capacity
► Potential saving of 19 million tCO2e within six years
The report by Atlantic Ventures, called Improving Sustainability in Data Centers 2024, claims that, in just six years, modernising data centres with HCI-based solutions could save up to 19 million tCO2e in the EMEA region, equivalent to the emissions of almost 4.1 million cars. It could also save €25 billion by 2030 from improved energy and operational efficiencies.
It points out that the conflicting forces of data-hungry technologies, such as AI, driving capacity demand, and the need to reduce environmental impact, is making energy efficiency a top priority for CIOs and data centre managers.
Key findings from the report include:
- 27% energy savings can be made by switching from traditional three-tier architectures to an HCI-based platform.
- Massive regional impact – across the EMEA region, a full-scale transition could save up to 92 TWh of electricity and eliminate 19 million tons of CO₂e between 2024 and 2030. This is comparable to the emissions of 4.1 million cars and in the UK alone, would equate to savings of 13.4 TWh of electricity.
- €25 billion in savings due to reduced electricity consumption by 2030.
- Extra savings by moving to the cloud – by placing HCI in the public cloud, potential energy savings could reach 54% compared to on-premises data centres.
- DR efficiency – lean, energy-efficient DR will reduce the infrastructure footprint while maintaining scalability and responsiveness.
- Decreasing usage - the energy consumption of traditional infrastructure is estimated to decrease from 7,7 TWh in 2024 to 6,1 TWh in 2030, with cloud solutions having the major share of roughly 68% in 2030.
