19.06.09 The hidden energy that powers the internet

There aren’t very many of us who think about how the internet actually works. In its relatively short life so far, the web has quickly become something we all take for granted. Gone are the days of making a cup of tea while the dial-up connection loads a webpage. But who has ever wondered what actually powers the internet? If you think of your time on the web as being like driving your car, then you are steering, changing gear and paying for the actual car itself but where is all the petrol coming from? In other words, what powers the internet?

The answer lies in Data centres. Data centres are probably the most inconspicuous yet vital buildings in the UK. You’ll find them hidden away, like nerdy teenagers, on industrial estates in places like Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. They aren’t down in the basements of the Ministry of Defence or anything glamorous like that. They are concrete warehouses full to the brim with wires, interfaces, computers and servers.

One of the companies that operate a Data centre is Telstra International. If you’ve ever booked a Eurostar journey or watched something on BBC iPlayer then when you clicked your mouse button the response was picked up at their Data centre near Cambridge.

The biggest concern when it comes to these secret centres is the sheer volume of energy they use every year. An average Data centre can use up to 25 Megawatts of power a year, which is the same as the total residential use for all the homes in Ipswich. There are currently 19 centres just in the area around Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk and that figure is set to rise.

The problem becomes obvious when you look at the carbon footprint. 3% of the UK’s annual electricity goes on powering these places. Over the next ten years that figure is expected to double. This will place the internet and our communications industry higher than our aviation industry in terms of carbon emissions.

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