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https://www.emergingtechbrew.com/stories/2024/08/06/equinix-paris-olympics-pool-data-center>
"The only indoor facility built specifically for the Paris games is having a
watershed moment.
As part of organizers’ sustainability goals, the Olympics Aquatics Center—the
venue hosting the diving, artistic swimming, and water polo competitions—draws
heat from sources in the neighborhood, including emissions from a nearby data
center that digital infrastructure company Equinix operates.
The model is one that Noah Nkonge, Equinix’s heat export lead, said he hopes
gains traction after its showcase on the world stage.
“There’s an interest in what can be done from an energy-efficiency perspective,
what can be done to give back to the community,” he told
Tech Brew. “At
Equinix, we’re committed to doing that, to being a leader, to finding those
solutions that will improve our company’s energy efficiency, because it does
benefit our customers, but it also benefits those communities.”
In Paris, as across the world, data centers are a critical link providing the
processing power for all manner of online experiences, from searching for an
address in Google Maps and booking a hotel to supporting caregiving and
record-management in hospitals. The IT infrastructure that carries out these
processes inside data centers generates a lot of heat; in Paris, the output
from the Equinix center is enough to heat about 1,000 homes.
Without an energy-sharing arrangement, that heat is released into the
atmosphere. But with the right partners on board, the byproduct can instead be
released into heat-distribution networks and redirected to places it’s needed.
The plan for heating the Olympics Aquatics Center started roughly two years
before the games, Nkonge said, including discussions with a local utility
provider. The heat partnership, which generally involves fans moving heat from
the data center and transferring it into water, went live in July, and it’s
been smooth sailing since, he said."
Via Dave Farber.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
