Meet the world’s first bio circular data centre

Initiated by the French ‘Conseil Départemental de l'Essonne’, which established the ABIOMAS Innovation Chair at the University, and supported by the Foundation Université Paris-Saclay, the project will be spearheaded by specialists across various fields such as biomass, digital technology, AI, physics, chemistry, and economics, among others, to tackle the initiative from multiple perspectives.

The project addresses the critical environmental concern posed by the rapid expansion of digital technology and the surge in data stored in data centres, which is growing by over 35% annually worldwide. Data4 has long been committed to minimising its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all scopes and sees this R&D project as a vital step towards repurposing the heat produced by data centres.

Currently, conventional methods of reusing this heat, like heating residential areas, only utilise about 20% of the produced heat. Data4 aims to explore innovative solutions, such as mimicking natural photosynthesis to cultivate algae using captured CO2. This process not only recycles the CO2 as biomass, fostering new circular energy sources but also supports the production of bioproducts for diverse industries like cosmetics and agri-food.

Patrick Duvaut, Vice-President of the Université Paris-Saclay and President of the Fondation Paris-Saclay, highlighted the project's potential: "Thanks to a feasibility study carried out with the startup Blue Planet Ecosystems, as part of the ABIOMAS chair of the Foundation Université Paris-Saclay, we have been able to calculate the efficiency of this carbon capture, which can be 20 times greater than that of a tree (for an equivalent surface area)."

Linda Lescuyer, Innovation Manager at Data4, elaborated on the project's broader implications: “This augmented biomass project meets two of the major challenges of our time: food security and the energy transition. This requires close collaboration between all the players in the Essonne region, including Data4, to develop a genuine industrial ecology project, aimed at pooling resources and reducing consumption in the region. Thanks to this partnership with the Fondation de l'Université Paris Saclay, we have the opportunity to draw on one of the world's most prestigious scientific communities to work towards a common goal of a circular energy economy."