admin Technological innovation has revolutionized the virtual world. Countries around the world are preparing for a more sustainable internet access for all global citizens to continue this perpetual cycle of change in the field. China’s tech firms are now investing in building greener solutions for the industry that is driven by high power consumption.
Zero-Carbon Initiatives
A report published by China’s State Grid Energy Research Institute noted that electricity consumption by data centers in the country- in 2020 alone- is estimated to exceed 200 billion kWh, accounting for 2.7 per cent of the country’s electricity consumption. At this rate, by 2030, the data center electricity consumption in China will exceed 400 billion kWh, accounting for 3.7 per cent of the country’s total electricity consumption, the report added. China’s tech giants, such as Huawei and Tencent, have been trying to build a zero-carbon internet industry for a while.
Wang Yuanfeng of Beijing Jiaotong University asserted, “The electricity consumption of China’s internet industry is growing at an annual rate of about ten per cent. It will double in seven or eight years, and become a major source of energy consumption in the future.” Wang is a carbon emission reduction expert and an advocate of green development. He further added that enterprises in the sector should act quickly to build a greener internet infrastructure.
Promise of a Green Internet
In Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2021 held in February, Huawei unveiled its solution for zero-carbon network, including minimalized base stations, server rooms, data centers, and wide use of green electricity. Vice President of Huawei and President of its Digital Power Product Line Zhou Taoyuan said Huawei can reduce energy consumption by using high-performance, low power-demand, and highly-integrated servers, and minimising the room occupation of base stations. Senior Vice President of Sugon Energy Yao Yong believes that the improvement of liquid cooling technology is the best way to break the bottleneck of data center energy efficiency. Tencent has chosen regions with sufficient green energy to build its data centers, such as Huailai in north China’s Hebei Province that has abundant wind electricity, or Qingyuan in south China’s Guangdong Province that has abundant hydro power. All major tech giants in the nation recognize the need to embrace a more sustainable virtual infrastructure to secure the future of the industry as well as the planet.
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