Green initiatives are the new buzzword in the tech industry. While some smartphone brands are removing chargers from the box to reduce their carbon footprint, some are using recycled materials. Similarly, Nxtra by Airtel, a prominent colocation data center in the country is currently experimenting with the use of fuel cells to reduce its carbon footprint and reduce reliance on non-renewable energy sources. While this might not seem much for an end user. However, if we look at the numbers, data centers alone consume 1% of power in the whole of the US, and this is expected to go up. At present, Nxtra alone consumes 190MW of power in India, which is speculated to go up to 400MW by 2025 and the company is making several investments around the same. Nxtra has plans to set up seven new hyperscale campuses across the country with plans to become net zero by 2031. Around 10% of Nxtra's Bengaluru data center is currently fueled by hydrogen-ready fuel cells. Presently, the company is using CNG or compressed natural gas to power these fuel cells. In future, these fuel cells will run on hydrogen, which will eliminate carbon emissions. According to the company, converting from diesel-based generators to fuel cells requires a huge investment, which will also increase the cost of operation. However, the company is optimistic that, in the long run, these new technologies will become more accessible and Nxtra is currently betting on it. The company also specified that a lot of clients, when looking for a data center will consider Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) as one of the primary parameters. With Nxtra's latest initiatives, it seems customers won't shy away from spending a bit more on a data center with greener operations. With Airtel, Nxtra believes it has an edge over the competition, where, it can offer both network and hardware infrastructure. And it further allows the clients to have their own security policies and also advice them regarding the various in-house security options.
