Google’s green ambitions take to the waves

Internet giant dips a toe into the world of wave power
Google has filed a patent for a water-based, wave-powered data centre.

Set against the backdrop of a bigger push for renewables – Google has also been busy funding green energy start-ups – the floating data centre would consist of ‘crane-removable modules’ and also use seawater for cooling.

The move comes at a time of growing concern over the amount of energy needed to power data centres [see ‘Smarter bytes, slimmer footprints’]. The EU recently published its Code of Conduct on Data Centres Energy Efficiency, noting the need to ensure carbon emissions and other impacts are mitigated.

Google is unwilling to comment on if and when the idea may be realised: “We file patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with” said a spokesperson. “Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t.”

But if it does go ahead, according to the patent, it would include Pelamis machines – wave energy converters that float, semi-submerged in the water, facing the direction of incoming waves [see ‘Anaconda joins wave energy hunt’].

Each machine can produce enough power to meet the annual average demand of about 500 households, “with a rating of about three-quarters of a megawatt”, explains Max Carcas, business development director at Pelamis Wave Power Ltd. Placed several miles out to sea to capture maximum wave energy, he describes them as having “very low visual impact” and, while studies are underway, says it’s hard to see how they’d have a huge impact on marine life. “We’re not producing waste products and haven’t got any fast moving equipment that would create a hazard.”

Floating data centres may, however, not be entirely issue free. In terms of potential widespread use, Andrew Waterston, of the UK Council of Datacentre Operators, says it is important to differentiate between companies that use data centres to deliver services to global users, and those using them to provide a service to the company itself. “For the latter, the majority of data centres are in the same place as the IT departments because of the strong need for control,” says Waterston. “The centres also need to be placed in a low-risk location close to abundant power and communications. Floating data centres may offer wave power but they are certainly not low-risk – ships can sink after all.”

The patent may, however, be part of a growing trend. Last January, start-up company International Data Security revealed its plan to build floating data centres on cargo ships. More recently, Atlantis Resources Corporation confirmed it is pushing ahead with a computer data centre in Scotland that could be powered by tidal energy. – Claire Baylis

21 January 2009

Claire Baylis

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