For much of the past decade, the public conversation about cloud computing has focused on scale, speed and artificial intelligence. But behind the scenes, a quieter reckoning is taking place – one that has to do, not with how fast the cloud is growing, but with how much energy and water it consumes along the way.
With data centres now accounting for an estimated 4 per cent of global electricity demand, a figure that continues to rise with AI workloads and high-performance computing, the sustainability of digital infrastructure has become a pressing issue for CIOs and policymakers alike.
Data centres now account for an estimated 4 per cent of global electricity demand, a figure that continues to rise with AI workloads.
“Sustainability used to be a secondary consideration,” says Terry Maiolo, vice president-general manager for APAC at global cloud infrastructure leader OVHcloud. “Now it’s front and centre in boardroom conversations – alongside cost and performance.”
In markets like Singapore, where water and power are tightly constrained, the issue is already at a tipping point.
The city-state has introduced caps on electricity use for new data centres and mandated a maximum power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio of 1.3 – a goal most operators are still working towards.
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OVHcloud, which has deployed its proprietary water-cooling technology at scale since 2003 and whose services run more than 43 data centres globally, says it has already achieved a lower PUE – averaging 1.26 across its fleet.
The key, says Maiolo, lies in OVHcloud’s approach to cooling: tackling heat directly at the server component rather than chilling the entire room.
Terry Maiolo, vice president-general manager for APAC at OVHcloud.
“Instead of using traditional air-conditioning, we use a proprietary water-cooled ‘thermoblock’ that sits directly on heat-generating components like the chip,” he says. “The water runs in a closed loop, cooling the component without evaporating. This means we use a fraction of the water of traditional evaporative systems.”
That engineering distinction has yielded outsized results.
OVHcloud’s water usage effectiveness (WUE) stands at 0.37 – 5 times less water usage than our competitors – a significant benefit in water-stressed regions like Southeast Asia.
It’s also had a downstream impact on footprint and density. With no need for wide air gaps between servers, OVHcloud says it can stack more computing capacity into a smaller area, improving resource utilisation while reducing land and materials use.
Beyond efficiency, the company also touts its vertically integrated supply chain as a sustainability advantage. Unlike many operators who buy and deploy pre-assembled servers, OVHcloud manufactures its own racks and cooling components in facilities in France and Canada. That allows for tighter control over design, logistics and re-use.
“When a server reaches end-of-life, it’s not discarded,” Maiolo says. “We bring it back to our factories, dismantle it, and recover anything that can be re-used. It’s a closed-loop approach.”
That ethos has led the company to set ambitious targets: zero waste to landfill by 2025, Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 73.4 per cent by the same year, and Scope 3 emissions reduction by 52 per cent by 2030.
OVHcloud, meanwhile, insists that sustainability does not have to come at a cost.
“There’s a perception that doing the right thing has to be expensive,” Maiolo says. “But because we use less power, less water, and make more efficient use of space, we’re actually able to deliver a strong performance-to-price ratio. It’s not an either-or: our customers get the best of both worlds.”
That cost-benefit equation may prove pivotal as companies weigh cloud strategies under growing ESG scrutiny.
“The reality is that businesses still need to meet performance expectations and show fiscal responsibility to shareholders,” Maiolo says. “With our model, they don’t have to compromise on either.”
Broader industry efforts are also gaining momentum.
The Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, an initiative co-founded by OVHcloud and backed by the European Commission, commits operators across Europe to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
Targets include a PUE of 1.3 for new data centres in warm climates, matching 100 per cent of electricity demand with renewables by 2030, and ensuring that all used servers are assessed for re-use or recycling.
The pact, which counts more than 100 signatories, signals a growing recognition that data centre sustainability needs collective action – not just innovation by individual providers.
“As workloads surge with AI, digital infrastructure has to scale responsibly,” said the Pact in a recent white paper. “Efficiency, circularity and transparency will be critical for aligning the cloud with Europe’s climate goals.”
That transparency extends to measurement, too.
OVHcloud now offers customers a carbon calculator that breaks down emissions by server type, location and usage – a tool Maiolo says is proving useful for enterprises reporting on their own ESG metrics.
While much of the attention remains on headline tech trends, Maiolo believes sustainability will soon become a key differentiator in cloud procurement.
“It’s already happening in markets like Singapore, where regulation is tight and resources are finite,” he says. “But increasingly, we’re seeing that sustainability is not a nice-to-have – it’s a business imperative.”
