No matter what you think of Microsoft software and
licencing, it is hard to argue against the fact that the American company is
among a small handful of technology leaders paving the way to a greener future.
The latest iteration of Microsoft's efforts in the green arena come by way of a
brand-new data centre – they are calling it a 'lab' instead – powered entirely
by natural gas.
Built in Seattle in the United States, Microsoft's
Advanced Energy Lab is a new kind of data centre designed around Microsoft's decades-old
'Tent City' concept. What makes the lab so unique is the fact that it was built
from the ground up with the goal of being completely separate from grid
infrastructure. Microsoft officials say this is a distinct difference in as
much as other efforts to use renewable energy to power data centres have been
pursued in parallel with grid energy. Microsoft wanted to be the first to come
up with a design that required absolutely no power from the grid.
Natural Gas and Fuel Cells
The Advanced Energy Lab powers its servers with energy
derived from natural gas. Servers are hooked directly to a natural gas
connection that utilises highly efficient fuel cells for power. The fuel cells
convert energy from the gas into electricity for both server power and cooling.
The benefits to this design are numerous:
- Keeping power separate
from the grid allows the data centre to continue operating even if the
surrounding grid goes down due to natural disaster or infrastructure
failure
- The system is more
efficient because it reduces the waste and loss of traditional grid
distribution, transmission and conversion
- The design is a
comparatively simple one as well, reducing the likelihood of failure by
reducing the number of 'moving parts' in the system
- Data centres based on this design will cost less to build, operate and maintain across-the-board
Microsoft began working on the lab in earnest after
developing a partnership with the National Fuel Cell Research Centre in 2013.
Their first promising breakthrough came in 2014 when a pilot project proved
that fuel cells do not necessarily require clean natural gas to work. The pilot
proved that biogas, a renewable fuel, would work just as effectively.
According to Microsoft, the Advanced Energy Lab
encapsulates everything the company has learned thus far about natural gas and
fuel cells working in tandem to generate electricity. In the coming months and
years, they will be refining the technology with the goal of eventually putting
it into service.
Microsoft eventually hopes to put together an
energy-independent, green and efficient data centre, capable of meeting our
ever-expanding data needs without having any negative impact on the
environment. It would appear as though the Advanced Energy Lab is a rather
large step in that direction. Where they go from here is anyone's guess, but
you can bet whatever Microsoft does will probably break new ground. If nothing
else, it will be fascinating to watch…
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