Energy consumption of the Internet will be one of the main challenges that technology will have to face in the future. Unfortunately, current and planned evolutions of the Internet, although they plan for a variety of improvements like increased capacity, easier manageability, and stronger security & privacy, do not address energy consumption issues.
As a National Research and Education Network (NREN) and as in our Mission Statement, we have the vision of developing Education and Research in Greece along with the equal participation of our organizations in the Pan European society of knowledge with the provision of modern, advanced and reliable Internet services to all the Educational and Research Institutions.
By taking into account the above-mentioned considerations and by recognizing that our operations have an effect on the local, regional and global environment, we are committed to include innovative green technologies in our networking and computing infrastructure and reduce our yearly greenhouse gas emissions footprint. In order to achieve that, environmental regulation, laws and codes of practice will be highly regarded when assessing standards of environmental performance.
Towards this direction, our environmental policy will be based on the following axes:
- upgrade our networking and computational infrastructure with energy efficient equipment,
- deploy energy consumption monitoring infrastructure for the real time monitoring of energy consumption in our Points of Presence (PoPs) and Data Centers,
- participate in research activities for the design of energy aware mechanisms for the operation and control of the network,
- improve energy efficiency in our data centers (low Power Usage Effectiveness – PUE values) through the application of innovative energy aware techniques,
- increase environmental awareness of the Greek research and academic community through the dissemination of “green” best practices,
- reduce travel necessarily incurred as part of work by using videoconferencing tools,
- minimize environmental pollution through the reduction, reuse or recycling of materials as much as possible.
To this end, we will measure and periodically report on our progress in realizing these commitments.
Green Data Centers
Energy-efficient infrastructures and practices for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
GRNET adopts and implements «green» technologies across its networking and computing infrastructure, with the primary objective of reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, it selects energy-efficient equipment and develops real-time energy consumption monitoring tools. The «green» Data Center operated by GRNET on the Louros River in Epirus achieves unprecedented levels of energy efficiency for Greek standards, as its operation relies exclusively on renewable energy sources. For air conditioning and cooling of IT systems, river water is utilised—a solution implemented for the first time in Greece.
In addition, GRNET has established a large Data Center (DC1), which serves the needs of hospitals across the country, housed in a building granted by the University of Crete in Knossos, Heraklion. At the same time, the infrastructure is being expanded through the development of a New Data Center (DC2). In parallel, GRNET is advancing the development of new Data Centers in Attica, in Lavrio, to host the «DAEDALUS» Supercomputer, as well as in Western Macedonia, in Kozani, for the provision of cloud services.
The above Data Centers operate using modern energy efficiency systems and the utilisation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), as part of a broader strategy aimed at enhancing energy efficiency and promoting environmental awareness within the academic community and the wider public sector. Their geographical location is characterised by high temperatures for a large part of the year, which necessitates the use of enhanced heat dissipation systems. At the same time, extended periods of sunshine favour the generation of electrical energy through photovoltaic systems.
The combination of technologies and mechanisms for optimising energy efficiency and reducing electricity costs yields significant multiplier benefits. Within this framework, a dedicated study was completed and innovative active systems for managing the distribution of computational workloads were implemented, contributing to an overall reduction in energy consumption through intelligent load allocation and dynamic coordination with electricity generation from photovoltaic systems.
As part of the above actions, a 100 kWp photovoltaic system with energy net metering was installed on the low-voltage grid. Furthermore, through the project «Enhancement of the Energy Footprint of the University of Crete and the National Health Data Center», the University of Crete, in collaboration with GRNET, is proceeding with the installation of two additional photovoltaic systems with capacities of 300 kWp and 200 kWp, respectively, of which the former is connected via virtual net metering to the electricity meter of the National Health Data Center.
