IBM and BT are apparently working with a company called Smartbunker to build high-performance data centres powered entirely by renewable energy.

Now when anyone says they are carbon neutral or use zero carbon, your journalist alarm bells should start to ring.

You have to be careful how they measure it. Do they mean they emit nothing and use local, organic materials etc, or, as many companies do, do they just offset the emissions after the job is done?

So look at this initiative, and bear that little gem in mind as they claim they’re not offsetting.

Smartbunker’s zero carbon energy policy is a preferable alternative to ‘carbon offsetting’ in which carbon emitted by traditional energy supplies is theoretically neutralised by projects designed to extract carbon from the environment. Smartbunker provides a new concept for customers looking for a highly competitive managed hosting service with minimal environmental impact.

“The zero carbon energy used in the data centre costs a little more than standard supplies but this is offset by the power saving derived from the design of our infrastructure. All the elements of Smartbunker’s design, combined with Centrinet’s proven expertise, guarantees that our customers have all the service and environmental benefits at no additional cost,” said Kelly Smith, managing director at Smartbunker.

To deliver guaranteed high performance with reduced environmental impact, Smartbunker exclusively uses IBM BladeCenter servers that integrate servers, networks, storage and applications in highly efficient one-inch systems, which sit in a rack like books on a shelf. IBM BladeCenter utilises unique innovation from IBM, including Calibrated Vectored Cooling, which manages air intake, fan placement and zone cooling technologies to maximise the airflow inside the blade server for optimal cooling efficiency. The system also utilises energy-efficient power supplies that deliver as much as 90 per cent power supply efficiency savings.

BT provides Smartbunker with triple-redundant tier one Internet connectivity, and Ecotricity, which leads green electricity retail and wind turbine development in the UK, supplies Smartbunker with zero carbon electricity. Smartbunker uses Ecotricity’s ‘New Energy Plus’ service with electricity generated from 100 per cent renewable resources. Energy in the data centre is derived from wind power, the world¹s fastest growing sustainable energy source.

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