Summary Bullets:
• A mini edge data center is being used to heat a public swimming pool in Devon, southwest of England (UK).
• Innovation is symptomatic of how sustainability issues – and marketing opportunities – can be addressed using imagination and technology.
UK company Deep Green is heating a public swimming pool in Devon (UK) with a ‘washing machine-sized’ edge data center. The data center’s computers are surrounded by oil to capture heat, which then is passed by convection/heat exchanger into the swimming pool and heated to about 30 degrees Centigrade. The pool, run by the local (Exmouth) council, gets the heat for free, and Deep Green and its customers can rest knowing they are contributing to dealing with climate challenges and supporting a free-of-charge municipal service. Seven further municipal pools have subsequently signed up for the service in the face of multiple swimming pool closures as a result of energy costs.
In the context of the council seeing a potential rise in its swimming pool heating bill climb from GBP18,000 a year to an anticipated GBP80,000 as a result of the current energy cost crisis, savings of 50-60% are expected.
This is a perfect example of a smart solution deploying technology in a creative way both to address the need for cooling data center equipment (i.e., lowering costs and environmental impact to achieve carbon-neutral delivery) and giving back to a community by saving taxpayer costs or avoiding potential closures of public facilities.
The energy crisis resulting from the Russian war in Ukraine and ongoing climate change is sparking a host of innovative solutions, and more will come. This is good news for communities, taxpayers, and companies like Deep Green that have splashed onto the market with a fantastic amount of free PR.
IT Connection 