No Nukes...Build a Green Data Center Instead

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The Web-hosting company 1&1 has put a new twist on smart re-use: It's building one of the biggest data centers in Europe at the site of a former nuclear fuel facility, and making the data center exceedingly green.

The nuclear fuel facility, located in Hanau, Germany, had been used to handle spent nuclear fuel. It became a focus of the German anti-nuclear movement, and was closed in 1995. Until two years ago, the site was still controlled by nuclear regulation, until it was finally cleared for commercial use.

Enter 1&1, which has a history of green awareness. Its massive data center will have 100,000 servers packed into 10,000 square meters. It will use electricity only from renewable energy sources. In addition, to cut down on electric use, the data center will  pump in outside air for cooling, instead of air conditioners. This technique is called air-side economization, and is being used increasingly by green data centers.

The data center is expected to go online at the end of 2009.

1&1 has a history of environmental awareness --- recently it bought enough Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to match 100% of the electricity used at 1&1's U.S. data center. Most of RECs are from the Bowersock Mills and Power Company’s hydroelectric facility in Lawrence, Kansas.

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