Challenges
Data centers are the backbone of our digital society and, as critical infrastructure, indispensable for key sectors such as healthcare, energy supply, and transportation. With the rapid expansion of AI applications and high-performance computing, their electricity demand is increasing significantly: at EU level, an energy consumption of around 150 TWh is projected by 2030. Up to 40% of this demand is attributable to server cooling.
Higher computing densities not only increase cooling requirements but also raise the amount of waste heat generated per server rack. Conventional cooling solutions are generally unable to recover this heat efficiently and often rely on synthetic working fluids. As a result, a valuable energy source remains unused on the one hand, while on the other hand potential leakages from cooling technologies pose safety and environmental risks.
Our Ambition
The CoolHeatDC team aims to develop an innovative, environmentally friendly, and integrated cooling solution for the next generation of data centers. The objective is not only to ensure highly efficient and safe cooling, but also to make the resulting waste heat usable by upgrading its temperature level and enabling its meaningful reuse in district heating or industrial heating applications.
In doing so, we contribute to a reliable, efficient, and future-proof operation of data centers while simultaneously supporting the energy and heat transition of European district heating systems and process industries with heat demand.
Funding
CoolHeatDC is funded by the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) program (proposal CETP2024-00168). The programme is co-funded by the European Commission (GA No. 101069750) and by national funding agencies from Austria, Norway, and Poland
