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Environmental sustainability

Data Centres: A Missed Opportunity for Sustainability

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Professor Priya Rajagopalan of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University stresses that the rapid growth of data centres poses significant pressure on electricity grids, water resources, and local communities. Despite their crucial role in powering digital services, this growth has created a pressing need for sustainable solutions. According to Rajagopalan, data centres can become essential elements of master plans by integrating community spaces and nature-based solutions into their design, as well as sharing unused power and water resources with nearby communities.

Key Takeaways:

  • Data centres consume significant amounts of electricity, water, and resources, putting pressure on local communities and grids.
  • Integrating community spaces and nature-based solutions into data centre design can mitigate their environmental impact.
  • Unused power and water resources generated by data centres can be shared with nearby communities, promoting sustainability.
  • Collaboration among governments, industry, and stakeholders is essential for creating sustainable solutions for data centres.
  • Large-scale renewable energy projects can supply green power to data centres, reducing reliance on non-renewable sources.
  • Data centres have the potential to become significant resources for energy and water flexibility, particularly through the sharing of back-up generator power and thermal storage solutions.
  • Professor Priya Rajagopalan's expert research has spanned topics such as building energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and climate resilience.

Statistics:

  • Data centres consume approximately X% of global electricity.
  • Unused power generated by data centres' back-up generators can be shared with nearby communities to promote sustainability.
  • Large-scale renewable energy projects have the potential to supply X% of energy needs for data centres.
  • Water treatment systems and rainwater collection and reuse can increase data centre efficiency by X%.

Sources:

  • RMIT University news release, "Data centres - a missed opportunity for sustainability"
  • Austrade's Opportunities in Critical Technologies in Australia, October 22, 2025
  • RMIT University, "Professor Priya Rajagopalan's profile"

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