The data centres servicing our beloved digital devices gobble huge amounts of electricity. A new way to think about heat and energy could help us meet growing demand without burning through the world's resources

Doug John Miller

THE modern world is drowning in data. In 1984, the global traffic of the fledgling internet amounted to 15 gigabytes per month. By 2014, that had become the average traffic per user. In 2019, each of us burned through that much data in just over a week. The floodgates show no signs of closing, either. As billions of new users come online, and ever more devices become web-connected, the amount of data in the world is forecast to rise to 175 zettabytes (1021 bytes) by 2025 – more than three times humanity’s output to date.

Processing these oceans of data requires enormous infrastructure, extending beyond smartphones and personal computers to millions of energy-hungry data centres around the globe. That combined hum already uses 6 per cent of the world’s electricity, an energy bill predicted to double by 2030, raising concerns about the sustainability of our digital habits.

For decades, technological improvements kept the rising waters at bay, allowing hardware to get smaller, faster and more energy efficient. But the silicon chips we rely on are starting to hit physical limits, threatening to leave us with an energy bill we can ill afford to pay.

“175 zettabytes

the total amount of data forecast to exist by 2025”

A plethora of alternative technologies are vying to continue the upward march in processing power, but most are still languishing on the lab bench. That is why a growing number of researchers are calling for something more transformative: a complete rethink of the thermodynamics underpinning computing. If the idea gains traction, it could revolutionise how computers are designed, allow processors …