USD
GBP 
CNY 
EUR 
INR 
JPY 
MYR 
ZAR 
KRW 
THB 
Datacenter Decarbonization Growth Opportunities
Efficiency and Renewables Procurement to Ensure Greater RoI and Margins for Data Center, Component Vendors, and Sustainability Service Providers
25-Feb-2022
Global
Market Research
K6CB-01-00-00-00
IT04482-GL-MT_26311
The data center industry can achieve decarbonization of Scope 1 and 2 emissions through two big approaches: renewable energy procurement and efficiency measures.
On the renewables side, power purchase agreements (PPAs) within a local electricity market are currently the most effective way for the data center industry to fund and procure renewable energy, ensuring that new clean energy is being added to the grid. Nevertheless, it is not without challenges.
On the efficiency part of the equation, innovations in cooling, sensors, automation, AI, and other advancements in server, storage, and networking technologies propose several new ways for the data center industry to deal with Scope 2 emissions and simultaneously achieve lower energy expenses.
To improve decarbonization levels in the short term, procuring renewables (ideally, from local and additional sources) will impact the data center at a far larger scale than any efficiency measure. In the long term, data center operators must continue their efforts to achieve more efficient operations.
Author: Leonardo Sampieri
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways (continued)
Key Takeaways (continued)
Why is it Increasingly Difficult to Grow?
The Strategic Imperative 8™
The Impact of the Top Three Strategic Imperatives on Data Center Decarbonization Industry
Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine™
Defining Decarbonization
Defining the Decarbonization Market for the Data Center Industry
Defining the Decarbonization Market for the Data Center Industry(continued)
More Definitions
More Definitions (continued)
Challenges Faced By the Data Center Industry from a Decarbonization Standpoint
The Global Data Center Electricity Demand
The Global Data Center Electricity Demand (continued)
The Global Data Center Electricity Demand (continued)
Renewable Energy and Data Center Demand
Renewable Energy and Data Center Demand (continued)
Growth Drivers for Data Center Decarbonization
Growth Restraints for Data Center Decarbonization
Decarbonization Practices Enabled by Builders and Integrators in the Power, Cooling, and Infrastructure Management Sector
Decarbonization Practices Enabled by Builders and Integrators in the Power, Cooling, and Infrastructure Management Sector (continued)
Decarbonization Practices Enabled by Builders and Integrators in the Power, Cooling, and Infrastructure Management Sector (continued)
Decarbonization Practices Enabled by Builders and Integrators in the Power, Cooling, and Infrastructure Management Sector (continued)
Decarbonization Practices Around Backup Generators in the DC Industry
Decarbonization Practices Around Backup Generators in the DC Industry (continued)
Efficiency-related Best Practices in the DC Industry
Efficiency-related Best Practices in the DC Industry (continued)
Efficiency-related Best Practices in the DC Industry (continued)
Efficiency-related Best Practices in the DC Industry (continued)
Renewable Power Procurement in the DC Industry
Renewable Power Procurement in the DC Industry (continued)
Renewable Power Procurement in the DC Industry (continued)
Growth Opportunity 1: Power Purchase Agreements for Renewable Energy Needs in Data Centers
Growth Opportunity 1: Power Purchase Agreements for Renewable Energy Needs in Data Centers (continued)
Growth Opportunity 2: End-to-end Sustainability Services for Optimization, Energy Procurement, and Other Needs
Growth Opportunity 2: End-to-end Sustainability Services for Optimization, Energy Procurement, and Other Needs (continued)
Growth Opportunity 3: Decarbonization Services for Colocation Data Centers
Growth Opportunity 3: Decarbonization Services for Colocation Data Centers (continued)
List of Exhibits
Legal Disclaimer
List of Figures
- Global Data Centers Energy Demand by Type, Global, 2015–2021
- Renewable Energy: Total Installed Cost, Capacity Factor and Levelized Cost of Electricity Trends by Technology, Global, 2010 and 2020
- Data Center Decarbonization: Growth Drivers, Global, 2022–2026
- Data Center Decarbonization: Growth Restraints, Global, 2022–2026
Speak directly with our analytics experts for tailored recommendations.
Recent related IT Services and Applications research
28 Oct 2026 | Global | Frost Radar
Frost Radar™: Network as a Service, 2026
Network as a service (NaaS) has evolved beyond bandwidth on demand into a digital operating model that brings together connectivity, cloud, security, observability, automation, and life cycle management through unified digital experiences. As enterprises expand multicloud environments, edge deployme...
26 Oct 2026 | North America | Frost Radar
Frost Radar™: Data Center Colocation Services in North America, 2026
Data center colocation services have become a foundational component of enterprise digital infrastructure, enabling organizations to balance performance, security, scalability, and cost optimization across increasingly distributed IT environments. Colocation facilities serve as critical interconnect...
23 Oct 2026 | Global | Technology Research
Growth Opportunities in GPU-as-a-Service, Hyperscale & AI-Focused Digital Infrastructure, AI-ready Data Center, Prompt-based Builder, Docs-as-code, and Artificial Chip Intelligence
This edition of the IT, Computing and Communication Technology Opportunity Engine explores GPU-as-a-Service, Hyperscale & AI-Focused Digital Infrastructure, and AI-Ready Data Centers to scale AI compute capabilities. Prompt-Based Builders and Docs-as-Code accelerate software development, while Artif...
16 Oct 2026 | Global | Frost Radar
Frost Radar™: Satellite IoT, 2026
Direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity and 3GPP NTN standards are reshaping the satellite IoT market. Release 17 enabled satellite NB-IoT through standard cellular modules, SIMs, and devices. The shift to 5G New Radio NTN supports higher-throughput, delay-sensitive services, such as direct-to-smartphon...
15 Oct 2026 | Latin America | Frost Radar
Frost Radar™: Managed Cloud Service Providers in Latin America, 2026
Cloud has become an established component of enterprise technology strategy in Latin America, but adoption has not necessarily reduced complexity. Many organizations now operate fragmented environments: public cloud, private cloud, on-premises infrastructure, legacy applications, SaaS platforms, and...
Purchase includes:
- Report download
- Growth Dialog™ with our experts
Growth Dialog™
A tailored session with you where we identify the:- Strategic Imperatives
- Growth Opportunities
- Best Practices
- Companies to Action
Impacting your company's future growth potential.