FACILITIES MANAGEMENT SURVEYS

AMD studies data center energy use in five global regions, urges efficiency

January 4, 2008—Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has released a study revealing shifting patterns in worldwide data center energy use at regional levels. The study, which was conducted by Jonathan Koomey, PhD, using data from industry analyst firm IDC, documents energy use across five regions: the United States, Western Europe, Japan, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) and the rest of the world.

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The study forecasts that, based on current growth trends, the US share of total world server electricity use from data centers will likely decline from 40% in 2000 to about one-third by 2010, while the Asia/Pacific region will increase its share from 10% to about 16% over that period. The absolute electricity consumption for servers in the Asia/Pacific region under this scenario would more than double from 2005 to 2010, and the global server consumption from 2005 to 2010 would require more than 10 additional 1000 MW power plants.

Dr. Koomey's report shows that electricity used by servers in the US and Europe currently comprise about two thirds of the world's total, with Japan, Asia/Pacific, and the rest of the world each falling at 10-15% of the total. Examining electricity use by region from 2000 to 2005, the study found that server electricity use in the Asia/Pacific region grew at a 23% annual rate, compared to a world average of 16% per year, making this region the only one with server electricity use growing at a rate significantly greater than the world average.

AMD figures that if the 20% savings estimated in the EPA report are applied to Dr. Koomey's projections for global datacenter electricity use in 2010, total savings would equal approximately five 1000 MW power plants. In other words, relatively modest changes in the way datacenters are designed and operated could offset approximately half the expected growth in global datacenter electricity use in 2010.

To learn more about the new study (.pdf file), and find industry discussions on real-world energy efficiency efforts, visit AMD's Web site.

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