Data centres & networks
As the world becomes increasingly digitalised, data centres and data transmission networks are emerging as an important source of energy demand.
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Despite exponential growth in demand for these services, huge strides in energy efficiency have helped to limit electricity demand growth. Sustained efforts by the ICT industry to improve energy efficiency, as well as government policies to promote best practices, will be critical to keep energy demand in check over the coming decades.
Last updated Aug 5, 2020
Key findings
Global trends in internet traffic, data centre workloads and data centre energy use, 2010-2019
OpenHuge strides in energy efficiency have helped to limit electricity demand growth from data centres and data transmission networks
As the world becomes increasingly digitalised, data centres and data transmission networks are emerging as an important source of energy demand, each accounting for about 1% of global electricity demand. Despite exponential growth in demand for these services, huge strides in energy efficiency have helped to limit electricity demand growth. Sustained efforts by the ICT industry to improve energy efficiency, as well as government policies to promote best practices, will be critical to keep energy demand in check over the coming decades.
Data Centres and Data Transmission Networks: Tracking progress 2020