Across the globe, data servers are humming, consuming both megawatts and precious natural resources to bring life to the digital world.
The planet's 8,000 or so data centers are the foundation of online existence, and will grow ever further with the advent of artificial intelligence — so much so that research estimates that by 2025, the IT industry could use 20% of all electricity produced, and emit up to 5.5% of the world's carbon emissions.
This poses a real — and to some, increasingly urgent — question about the industry's carbon footprint as startups and companies fall behind Silicon Valley's latest forward march.