EU Moves Toward Regulating Data Center Energy and Water Use

Cándido Garcia Molyneux’s commentary was included in a CIO article examining new energy efficiency rules for EU data centers. Cándido commented on how EU environmental regulations tend to be a model for many other parts of the world.

“Ultimately, the reality is, when the EU adopts these reporting requirements, be very sure that many other countries will start adopting the same or very similar requirements,” Cándido said.

Cándido added that in addition, countries that want to join the EU or trade with the EU may need to comply with data center energy rules, and the EU has already passed government procurement regulations around energy efficiency. Companies providing cloud or web-based services to EU residents and businesses from data centers located elsewhere may also be subject to future energy use regulations, he said.

“If they have a data center in India, maybe these reporting requirements do not apply to them, but many of the sustainability requirements that the EU is adopting may have an impact on data centers in India,” Cándido noted.