The Eclipse Patchwork Kilt blueprint aims to demonstrate how data centres can meet the zero-waste industry goals for circularity with over 90% dematerialisation. It will also showcase how solutions can contribute to the global goal of 80% decarbonisation. This can happen by working across three pillars:
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Decarbonisation of all key layers of the data centres: Specifically, the requirements and opportunities corresponding to the physical (built) infrastructure, IT hardware, and broader municipal energy usage and recapture, providing actionable guidance for implementation of solutions, in part and in whole. Some of these opportunities are available today but are under-utilised in the context of data centres.
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For operational phase energy (scope 1 and 2) direct emissions, data centres need to deploy:
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Full energy efficiency in the built environment
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Power data centres via renewable energy sources
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Local or district level heat recovery solutions
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Electrification of transportation fleet
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Electrification of onsite fossil fuel processes such as steam
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For indirect supply chain emissions (scope 3) that require a circular solution, key strategies include:
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Reuse of servers and components to the fullest extent
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Arrangement for onsite and offsite repair and lifecycle extension of server and network parts
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Reduction and offset of product transportation miles
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Adoption of responsible packaging solutions that include all packaging materials coming from recycled content and for them to be further reusable, recyclable, or compostable, eliminate single use plastic in IT asset packaging , and dramatically reduce packaging weight.
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Share learnings linked to reuse, disassembly, reassembly, and recycling to all partners in the supply chain
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2. Adoption of an open technology platform across hardware, software and data (3 Opens) and carbon accounting frameworks as the critical backbone in enabling circular, carbon negative data centres. Open source software enables release of licensed and copyrighted source code; Open Source Hardware enables the release of the designs of tangible artefacts; and Open Data relies on the notion of transparency and that data should be freely available to everyone. All rely on the principles of collaboration and public benefit which is key to an effective circular economy.
3. Commitment to increased transparency, inclusive economy, and equitable access: Transparency is also a key component needed to build trust within communities and transform digital infrastructure into a holistic solution that contributes to sustainable cities (SDG 11) – for example from heat waste recycling into homes, which can replace the reliance on natural gas, to decreasing the cost of access, particularly for marginalised communities, due to local proximity to data centres.