Dive Brief:
- Microsoft is studying adding fuel cells inside data centers to eliminate off-site power supply.
- An integrated server rack with information technology equipment and smaller form fuel cells was more reliable and more efficient delivering power to the data center than outside sources, according to Microsoft research titled No More Electrical Infrastructure: Towards Fuel Cell Powered Data Centers.
- More research is needed.
Dive Insight:
Data centers use lots of power, and they need that power all the time. Data centers accounted for 1.7% to 2.2% of all electricity used in the U.S. in 2010, according to a report by Jonathan Koomey, a Stanford University professor who focuses on climate change and information technology issues. As a result, companies like Google, Facebook and Apple have been building facilities that are as efficient as possible, and that are increasingly supplied with their own power. Often that power is coming from renewable resources.
Microsoft's research is taking the self-supply trend one step further, but it will likely be some time before data centers are built with fuel cells integrated into server racks. “With the potential to double the efficiency of traditional datacenters, we see tremendous potential in this approach, but this concept is not without challenges,” said Sean James, senior research program manager. “Deep technical issues remain.”