A new report from Seagate Technology has revealed a significant gap between organisations’ sustainability concerns and their purchasing decisions as data centres face mounting pressure from AI-driven demand.
The study found that 96.7% of UK businesses express concern about the environmental impact of data storage, yet only 6.7% prioritise low environmental impact when making purchasing decisions.
According to the research, companies estimate a budget of US$5.4bn would be necessary to invest in more sustainable data storage operations, with financial benefits (66.7%) and tax reliefs (50%) serving as the primary motivators for adopting greener practices.
This disconnect between environmental awareness and action comes at a critical time, as the demand for data storage continues to grow exponentially, driven by emerging technologies such as AI.
Seagate Technology report highlights physical space constraints for UK data centres
The report identified physical space as a major challenge, with 50% of UK respondents citing lack of space as a barrier to implementing sustainable data storage solutions.
This space constraint becomes increasingly relevant as the UK government pursues its ambition to make the country an AI superpower, with the recently formed AI Energy Council addressing how to power the expansion of necessary data infrastructure.
The timing of the report coincides with the first meeting of the UK’s AI Energy Council last week, which was established to discuss powering the UK’s planned AI infrastructure expansion as part of the Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan.
Despite 93.4% of UK respondents acknowledging the significant impact of extending the lifecycle of data storage equipment on sustainability, only 20% consider durability and lifecycle a top factor in purchasing decisions.
High energy consumption was identified as the top barrier to driving sustainability in data centres by 53.5% of global respondents, followed by raw material requirements (49.5%) and physical space constraints (45.5%).
Data storage demand rises as Goldman Sachs forecasts significant power consumption increase
The global study found that 94.5% of respondents reported increasing data storage needs, with 97% anticipating AI's growth to further impact storage demand.
Key facts
Goldman Sachs Research forecasts global power demand from data centres to increase by 165% by 2030 compared with 2023 levels
Seagate's Mozaic 3+ platform reduces embodied carbon by over 70% per terabyte while lowering cost per terabyte by 25%
Only 6.7% of UK businesses prioritise low environmental impact in purchasing decisions despite 96.7% expressing concern about data storage sustainability
Goldman Sachs Research forecasts that global power demand from data centres will increase by as much as 165% by 2030, compared with 2023.
Energy usage has become a top concern for 53.5% of business leaders, as rising data volumes, slowing power efficiency gains, and increasing AI adoption create pressure to manage carbon emissions, infrastructure expansion, and total cost of ownership simultaneously.
"Data centres 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 digital economy," said Jason Feist, SVP of Cloud Marketing at Seagate.
As organisations expand their data capabilities, they face three options: improve efficiency within existing infrastructure, expand data centre footprint, or migrate workloads to the cloud. Each option involves trade-offs between cost, carbon and control.
“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,” Jason added.
The report identified a disconnect in lifecycle management, with 92.2% of respondents acknowledging the importance of extending the lifecycle of storage equipment, but only 15.5% considering it a top purchasing factor.
Seagate says its HAMR-based Mozaic 3+ platform, which is now in volume production, enables up to three times more capacity in the same footprint, reduces embodied carbon by over 70% per terabyte, and lowers cost per terabyte by 25%.
The platform represents one of the technological innovations that Seagate believes can help address the sustainability challenges faced by data centres.
The report outlines three strategic pillars for building a more sustainable data future: technological innovation, commitment to lifecycle extension and circularity and shared accountability across the ecosystem.
“Sustainability cannot be solved in isolation,” Jason explains. “A holistic approach spanning infrastructure, lifecycle management and industry-wide accountability could ensure that the growth of AI and data centre operations does not come at the expense of the environment.”
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