Chapter 09 · Sustainability & AISustainability & AI
Waste heat recovery (data centres)
Definition
Capturing the heat generated by servers — otherwise a cooling burden — and reusing it, for example in district heating, greenhouses or industrial processes.
References
This source provides part of the technical or institutional basis for the definition.
This source supports the explanation of how the term is applied, measured or governed in practice.
Overview
What it means
Every kilowatt of IT power becomes heat; recovering it improves total energy utilisation beyond what PUE captures. The EU's recast Energy Efficiency Directive and its data-centre reporting scheme now expect operators to assess and report waste-heat reuse potential, and the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact includes heat-reuse commitments.
How it is used
Operators in cooler climates increasingly contract heat offtake with municipal heating networks, designing facilities around heat export. Viability depends on proximity to heat demand, temperature levels and contractual frameworks.
Why it matters
Heat reuse converts data centres from pure consumers into potential energy suppliers — one of the few routes by which AI infrastructure can contribute to local decarbonisation rather than only drawing from it.