Data center giant Iron Mountain has hired a firm to provide hourly energy and carbon analysis for all of its facilities in the U.S.
ClearTrace was selected to engage its carbon accounting platform to track Iron Mountain’s around-the-clock energy usage. The data center firm will be provided advanced digital infrastructure to analyze and track verifiable energy and carbon records, according to the release.
“We are fully committed to achieving 100% clean energy for our data center customers, every hour of every day," said Chris Pennington, Director Energy and Sustainability at Iron Mountain Data Centers. “After a successful pilot with ClearTrace, we are excited for the insights their technology will provide in support of our commitment to 24/7 carbon free energy. Knowing where we are throughout the journey towards complete decarbonization is critical for accurate reporting and credible results.”
The data and analysis should enable Iron Mountain to work with its suppliers in procuring renewables that match its current hourly shortfalls and thus achieve 100 percent carbon-free energy consumption, the company says.
Large tech and data entities such as Iron Mountain, Google and Microsoft, are spearheading the new trend of load-matched renewables monitored around the clock.
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“The world's top businesses need data to be stored in carbon free data centers to achieve their ESG goals,” said Lincoln Payton, CEO at ClearTrace. “We are honored to work with Iron Mountain to lead the path forward for 100% carbon free data centers.”
Three of Iron Mountain’s data storage campuses have already been tracking carbon free energy performance, and with the ClearTrace deal will add its additional seven data centers to the practice.
The largest data centers can require more than 100 MW energy capacity, according to reports. Global data center load has topped 200 terawatt hours (TWh) annually.
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(Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech and a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry from oil and gas to renewables. He can be reached at [email protected]).
