Seagate Technology, in mass-capacity data storage, released the Decarbonising Data 1 report, its latest global report based on a commissioned survey, highlighting the growing sustainability challenges facing data centers as enterprises scale to meet the demands of AI. Goldman Sachs Research forecasts global power demand from data centers will increase by as much as 165% by 2030, compared with 2023. Seagate’s new report reveals that energy usage is now a top concern for 53.5% of business leaders. The rising data volumes, slowing power efficiency gains, and increasing AI adoption are putting pressure on organisations to manage carbon emissions, infrastructure expansion, and total cost of ownership (TCO) – all at once.
“Data centers are under intense scrutiny – not only because they support modern AI workloads, But because they are becoming one of the most energy-intensive sectors of the digitaleconomy,” said Jason Feist, senior vice president of cloud marketing, Seagate. “This calls for a fundamental shift in how we think about data infrastructure – not as a trade-off between cost and sustainability, but as an opportunity to optimise for both.”
As organisations expand their data capabilities, they face three options: improve efficiency within existing infrastructure, expand data center footprint, or migrate workloads to the cloud.
Each option involves trade-offs between cost, carbon, and control, indicating that total cost of ownership and sustainability can be compatible goals. Decisions on energy consumption, space utilisation, raw material use, and infrastructure investment now impact both business performance and environmental outcomes.
To support the industry in navigating this shift, the Decarbonising Data report outlines three strategic pillars for building a more sustainable data future:
Technological Innovation: Technological innovation remains a key driver of sustainable transformation. Advances in computational power, storage areal density, and energy-efficient technologies like liquid/immersion cooling and HVAC systems can significantly lower energy consumption and carbon emissions, effectively managing the growing demand profile. Seagate’s HAMR-based Mozaic 3+ platform, now in volume production, enables up to 3 times more capacity in the same footprint, reduces embodied carbon by over 70% per terabyte 2, and lowers the cost per terabyte by 25% 3.
Commitment to life cycle extension and circularity: Refurbishing, reusing, and maintaining storage equipment extends lifespan and reduces waste. Real-time environmental monitoring and transparent reporting can foster accountability across the data center environment.
Share accountability across the ecosystem: Achieving meaningful emissions reduction – across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 as outlined in the report– requires collaboration across the entire value chain, including vendors, suppliers, and cloud service providers.
Sustainability cannot be solved in isolation. A holistic approach spanning infrastructure, lifecycle management, and industry-wide accountability could ensure that the growth of AI and data center operations does not come at the expense of the environment, said Jason Feist.