China has revealed its plan to reduce emissions in "digital infrastructure," such as data centers and high-speed (5G) telecommunications networks, with essential benchmarks set for the country's carbon-neutrality goal of 2060.
Optimizing
According to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the government will optimize the building layout of data centers and 5G networks to strengthen its carbon-reduction programs and caution local governments to prevent unregulated expansions.
"Data centers and 5G are strategic resources and public infrastructure that support future economic and social development, and they are also the most important part of the new infrastructure's energy conservation and consumption reduction," the top economic planner said in a statement released late Wednesday with three state agencies.
Emission Goals
In September of last year, China established a goal of reaching peak emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2060. Carbon-intensive industries in the United States, such as steel, nonferrous metals, and cement manufacture, will meet the first objective by 2025.
According to the NDRC, data centers with non-real-time functions now situated in the eastern regions will be shifted to new clusters in the western areas to use the vast availability of wind and solar resources.
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No Special Treatment
According to the strategy, local governments should not give data centers outside national data-center clusters special treatment inland, finance, or tax concerns.
Digital Expansion
China's ambition for digital infrastructure expansion has resulted in increased carbon emissions. According to environmental activist organization Greenpeace, they are expected to reach 310 million tonnes by 2035, up from 123 million in 2020. Even after other vital industries have reached their peak-emission timelines, this will continue to climb.
China has the world's largest 5G network and, behind the United States, the world's second-largest data-center sector. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, China has prioritized the development of new digital infrastructure, including 5G networks, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain, to enhance employment and economic growth.
According to Greenpeace, data centers and 5G networks utilized 201 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power in 2020, approximately similar to the combined consumption of Beijing and Shenzhen.
Electric Consumption
According to a Greenpeace East Asia prediction, this will reach 782 billion kWh by 2035, or approximately 5 to 7% of national electricity consumption, up from 2.7 percent in 2020.
Like most power-hungry businesses, China's digital infrastructure industry relies mainly on "dirty" power plants. According to government figures, coal accounted for around 57% of the country's electrical generation in 2020. According to Greenpeace, coal-fired power plants provide about 61% of the electricity used to run China's digital infrastructure.
"China's digital infrastructure sector is fast increasing, and transitioning the industry away from coal is vital to the country's national climate goals," said Wu Xueying, Greenpeace East Asia's climate and energy campaigner.
Working on Similar Technology
The government will also work on related technology to construct more power-efficient data centers, according to the NDRC. According to the proposal, future big and mega-sized data centers' average power use effectiveness (PUE) should be around 1.3 by 2025. In the business, a ratio of one is considered excellent.ndrc
According to the report, the total rate of data center use between the eastern and western areas should also be more balanced. As additional data centers are transferred from the east side, the Western regions should increase their participation from 30% to more than 50% by 2025.
Some IT firms have made efforts to lessen their carbon impact. GDS Holdings, which is home to some of the world's major cloud service providers, including Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings, has set a carbon-neutral by 2030.
Pledge
Chindata and AtHub, two of China's largest data-center providers, have likewise pledged to use 100% renewable energy by 2030.
"Policymakers can assist support this transition by requiring the use of 100% renewable energy and giving financial incentives for businesses to switch to wind and solar," said Ye Ruiqi, a climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace East Asia. "Digital technology, not an increasing source of emissions, should be a solution to the climate challenge."
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