New research reveals data centre energy could be reduced just by changing a few lines of code – IEEE comments

A recent International Energy Agency (IEA) report revealed that data centres account for between two – four percent of total electricity consumption around the world*. However, new research has revealed that data centre energy consumption could be cut by up to 30 percent simply by changing a few lines of code**. A new feature called ‘interrupt request suspension’ balances CPU power usage with efficient data processing. By reducing unnecessary CPU interruptions during high-traffic periods, this enhances network performance while maintaining low latency during quieter times.

Aoife Foley, IEEE senior member and professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast, offers the following statement:

“There is a long way to go yet. These facilities represent huge electricity demands, adding pressure to electricity grids and increasing the challenge of energy transitions, especially in smaller countries. Although it is impossible to calculate precisely, the entire ICT sector is estimated to account for about 1.4 per cent of CO2 emissions globally. Infrastructure and operations leaders have a responsibility here and need to consider the unnecessary waste associated with data storage and commit to generating power from more renewable sources. 

“Modern enterprises continuously generate and accumulate vast amounts of data. This includes routine activities across enterprise systems, machines, sensors, and demand-side digitalisation. All of this data comes in multiple forms – whether redundant or critical. However, the majority is unstructured and inert content, commonly referred to as ‘dark data’ which is becoming more prevalent. The result is a large volume of digital data that needs to be stored, most of which will not even be accessed later.  

“Those managing data centres and server rooms must strive for a high standard of energy efficiency, demonstrated through aggressive power use effectiveness (PUE) targets. Achieving sustainability means addressing environmental considerations during solution design as well as during the build. Solutions must meet pre-defined and agreed environmental sustainability criteria. This includes filtering dark data, removing unnecessary information from storage and relying upon ‘greener’ energy sources.” 

*https://www.iea.org/commentaries/what-the-data-centre-and-ai-boom-could-mean-for-the-energy-sector  

**https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626780