Collective project #1 : Datacenter environmental inquiry
Project goal
The two collective projects aim to develop your understanding of environmental policy planning in the context of the deployment of digital infrastructures and technologies. Throughout the projects, you will focus on a specific city. In this first project, you will analyse the environmental challenges involved in setting up a data centre. For the second project, you will examine the impact of a particular technology, such as smart meters or car sharing, in the same city.
Assignment
You are civil servants being asked to deliver a recommendation for the city council and the mayor. Your analysis will help the city refuse, transform or accept the deployment of a given datacenter.
- Assess the environmental challenges (present and future) and transition policies of the city assigned to your group by the teacher.
- Assess the environmental challenges of the implementation of the data centre assigned to your group.
Step 1 : Environmental transition of your city
- Make groups of 4 people
- Each group will be assigned a city
- Assess climate and environmental challenges in your city (today 2020 to 2050)
- Write a summary of your findings
Ideas of data to collect
- Water availability
- Water withdrawal/consumption
- Water conservation targets
- Electricity still available
- Electricity mix (current final energy mix, current electricity mix)
- Energy transition targets
- Heat generation technologies
- Land use
- Air pollution
- Biodiversity
- Climate risks in the city (present and future) : droughts, heatwaves, flooding, etc
Datasource
- Transition plan / Net zero carbon / low carbon roadmap of cities
- Scientific literature (using right keywords in search engine such as Semantic Scholar or equivalent)
- IPCC reports and tools
- External analysis from consultancy groups, NGOs, etc.
- Maps, geographical data, statistics, etc.
Step 2 : Environnemental challenges of your datacenter
- Each group will be assigned a data centre in their city.
- Describe the potential environmental challenges of this data centre (electricity consumption, water issues, gas leaks, heat production, land use, conflicts of use, etc.).
- Assess these challenges in relation to your city’s environmental challenges and policy.
- Critically examine the measures taken (or not taken) by the data centre provider.
Ideas of data to collect
- Picture of the data center using satellite imagery
- Electricity reservation
- Cooling technology
- Water use
- Land use
- Political and fiscal incentive/discouragement
WARNING —> Each data point needs to be sourced (only primary source allowed)
Datasource
- Data centers session
- Satellite image : Google Map / Yandex Map / World Imagery Wayback / Open Street Map
- Official communication from the datacenter provider
- Newspaper articles
- External analysis from consultancy groups, NGOs, etc.
- Maps, geographical data, statistics, etc.
Outcome
Your assessment should take the form of a short report (around 5 pages). In addition to the text, you are invited to add various media to your summary (maps, graphs, images, etc.).
Deadline for the School of Public Affairs : 10th of november 12pm
Deadline for the School of Urbanism : TBD
Assessment grid
| Criteria | Point |
|---|---|
| The city’s most relevant environmental challenges and policies have been identified. | 3 |
| The most relevant environmental challenges facing the data centre have been identified. | 5 |
| A relevant link has been established between the environmental challenges facing the city and the data centre. | 4 |
| The students have engaged in critical analysis of the communications from data centre providers. | 4 |
| The students were able to formalise an informed opinion on the relevance of the infrastructure in the city. | 2 |
| Clarity and structure of the document. | 2 |
| Total | 20 |