Over three-quarters (76%) of UK data centres will fail to cut energy consumption in 2012 according to a new survey by the Data Centre World Conference 2012.

The research into future energy usage trends by UK data centre operators found that:

The vast majority (76%) of the UK’s data centres expect their energy consumption to increase, or remain the same in 2012. 

Of these, over a fifth (21%) predict that their energy consumption will increase by 25% or more during this year.

Almost a third (31%) are unaware of the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rate of their data centre facilities

Over 46% have either not achieved PUE targets, or don’t have a target PUE level in place

Poor PUE
Just over half (51%) of respondents admitted to either not knowing their PUE, or having a below-average PUE rating (above 2.0*). Unsurprisingly, the majority (61%) of those surveyed admitted they had yet to achieve either their target PUE level, or even a satisfactory PUE level.

John Hatcher, Data Centre World conference director said: “Although the UK has some of the most advanced data centres in the world, the survey shows there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done. If we’re to see a credible reduction in data centre carbon footprint in our lifetime, the industry needs to embrace innovative green technologies available to cool and power facilities across the UK.”