The environmental impact of data centres in France has increased at an alarming rate, according to the latest ADEME report published in January 2025. Their share of the digital sector's carbon footprint has risen from 16% in 2022 to 46% in 2025*. To help reduce the environmental footprint of digital technology, here are five key steps to help data centres become more eco-responsible.
Measuring your environmental impact
The first essential step is rigorous measurement of environmental impact. To achieve this, data centre managers have a number of recognised benchmarks at their disposal:
- The full carbon footprintincluding Scope 3, which includes the manufacture of equipment in the overall calculation.
- Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)energy efficiency: this standardised indicator (ISO/IEC 30134-2) calculates the data centre's energy efficiency by dividing the total energy consumed by that used solely for IT equipment.
- Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE)This ratio measures water consumption in relation to the energy used (the ideal target being less than 0.2 L/kW), with the industry average being around 1.8 L/kWh.
- Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE)This indicator quantifies the volume of greenhouse gases emitted per kilowatt-hour of energy used.
Improving the energy efficiency of Data Centres
Following this audit phase, a number of concrete actions can be taken:
- Modernisation of power supply systemsoptimising the electrical infrastructure can significantly reduce energy losses. For example, Google's data centre in Saint-Ghislain (Belgium) has achieved a remarkable PUE of 1.09 thanks to these optimisations.
- Migration to new-generation infrastructureseco-responsible designs now incorporate innovative solutions such as passive cooling systems and modular architectures adapted to the actual load.
- Renewable energy supplyThe use of clean energy sources (solar, wind, hydroelectric) considerably reduces the carbon footprint. Microsoft has committed to using 100% of renewable energy for all its Data Centres by 2025.
Reducing water consumption
Water consumption, which is necessary for cooling equipment that generates large quantities of heat, is a major energy expense. Three solutions are currently being put forward:
- Waste heat recoveryFor example, the Natixis data centre in Marne-la-Vallée has been heating the Val d'Europe intercommunal aquatic centre in Bailly-Romainvilliers for over 10 years.
- Free cooling" technologiesThese solutions use outside air when climatic conditions allow, drastically reducing water consumption. Scandinavian data centres in particular make the most of this approach, thanks to their favourable climate.
- Equipment resistant to high temperaturesResearch: current research is aimed at developing servers capable of operating efficiently at higher temperatures, thereby reducing the need for cooling.
Reduce the waste generated by the operation of data centres
Data centres generate electronic waste at three critical points: when equipment is manufactured, during operation and at the end of its life. This waste contains rare and sometimes toxic materials that need to be managed responsibly.
Several strategies are proving effective:
- Extending the life of installationsUnlike traditional 3-5 year renewal cycles, some operators can now extend the life of their equipment to 7-10 years through rigorous preventive maintenance.
- Circular economy95% of valuable materials contained in obsolete equipment can be recovered by implementing reconditioning and recycling programmes.
Using prevention and legislation
The regulatory framework is evolving rapidly to encourage good environmental practice in the data centre sector:
Main regulations and labels :
- Law to Reduce the Environmental Footprint of the Digital Sector (REEN)This French legislation aims to promote data centres that consume less energy and emit fewer greenhouse gases, with quantified targets to be achieved by 2030.
- ISO/IEC 30134-2 standardIt sets out a precise methodology for calculating PUE, enabling reliable comparisons to be made between different installations.
- ISO/IEC 13273-2 standardCarbon footprint: this standard establishes the methodological framework for measuring the carbon footprint of data centres, taking into account the use of renewable energy.
- CEEDA Label (Certified Energy Efficient Data Center Award)This international certification assesses the overall energy efficiency of data centres at three levels (bronze, silver and gold).
- Code of Conduct for Data CentresThis European initiative encourages the voluntary adoption of best practices to improve energy efficiency.
* This significant increase can be explained by two main factors:
- The inclusion of data centres located abroad: The first study only took into account data centres located in France, whereas 53% of digital uses are hosted abroad.
- The intensification of digital uses: ADEME attributes this increase to the growing use of digital services such as search engines, the cloud, video on demand, social networks and AI.