The rise of the net-positive cloud
As we set a high and ambitious goal toward a net-zero future, some companies are taking an even bolder stance and setting a net-positive ambition for their data center business, including companies such as Equinix, atNorth, EcoDataCenter, and Bahnhof from data center infrastructure providers such as Schneider Electric and Alfa Laval. Together with utility providers such as Stockholm Exergi, Vattenfall, and other utility providers, excess heat and wastewater are captured from data centers and pushed back to the utility provider who can then pass it on to the district heating network for heating residential, commercial, and industrial facilities, creating a net-positive equation. Let us take a closer look at the Swedish data center provider EcoDataCenter, which has paired up with the municipality of Falun and the Falun district heating and cooling supplier to create a net-favorable ecosystem:
Figure 4.10: The EcoDataCenter ecosystem...
