It is no secret that Apple is looking to be the dominant technology company where green energy is concerned. Their new corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California (USA) is already slated to run on 100% renewable energy and Apple has made great strides in using more environmentally friendly packaging. Now they have their eyes on a brand-new data centre being built in the Jutland region of Denmark, a data centre that will utilise green energy and recycle its excess heat to help keep local homes warm. The data centre is being partly powered by recycling agricultural waste from local farms. Apple has partnered with Aarhus University to develop a system that converts the waste into methane gas by way of a biochemical ‘digester'. The methane gas can then be harnessed and used to power the facility. What the digester leaves behind becomes fertiliser for local farms. Apple also says that the data centre will put no stress on the local power grid. Instead, it will be powered by 100% renewable energy. As such, Apple is giving back to the community in multiple ways. It is a great partnership that will benefit local residents, businesses, farmers, the University, and even Apple itself.

A Company-Wide Goal: We should not be surprised by what Apple is doing in Denmark. After all, the company has stated numerous times that they fully intend to eventually operate all their data centres on 100% renewable energy. All their existing data centres already use renewable power to one extent or another and Apple claims as many as 96% of them are already exclusively renewable. The renewable energy goals are not what is so surprising about the Denmark project. Rather, it is remarkable that Apple will harness the excess heat their data centre produces and return it to the community as municipal heat for homes. Apple could just as easily have turned around and used that heat as another source of power on their own premises. Instead, the local community will benefit from it. Apple is not alone in harnessing data centre heat for other purposes. There are others who use excess data centre heat to keep their own offices warm and still others who use it to generate the hot water their facilities need. And when you stop to think about it, heat recycling strategies make perfect sense. Data centres are not only insatiable users of power; they also produce a tremendous amount of heat. There really is no viable reason to allow that heat to escape when it can be reclaimed for so many purposes. The fact that it has taken technology companies so long to get to this point is the only thing that really surprises us about heat recycling. Apple's new Denmark data centre will be a model of renewable energy and recycling when it finally opens. Apple might be hard-pressed to call themselves the world leader in green technology at this moment in time, but they are certainly among the industry's major players. Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3191487/data-center/apple-will-return-heat-generated-by-data-centre-to-warm-up-homes.html