By 2028, France could recover 8.75 TWH of waste heat. But how much energy we still waste every year without even realizing it? Data center, the immense infrastructures that feed artificial intelligence, consume huge quantities of electricity and generate excess heat.
Today, this energy is dispersed in the air through expensive cooling systems. Still, it could be recovered and used to heat houses, schools and entire citiesreducing our dependence on gas and lowering CO₂ emissions. A solution that some countries are already experimenting, while in Italy the potential is still to be explored.
In recent months, artificial intelligence has imposed itself as the technology of the future. The world summit south, which is taking place in Paris, brings together the main experts in the sector and has seen the French president Emmanuel Macron announce An investment of 109 billion euros To make France a leader in the field of artificial intelligence.
At the same time, The United Arab Emirates are investing over 50 billion euros To build in France The largest IA campus in Europewhile Canada has allocated 20 billion euros to a project similar to Calabrai.
But all this innovation has a price: the data centers, which are the heart of artificial intelligence, they are among the most energetic infrastructures in the world. They need huge quantities of electricity to work and generate a large amount of waste heatwhich today is dispersed in the atmosphere.
What if we could recover and reuse it?
Waste heat: a wasted energy treasure
Anyone who has worked on a computer for a long time knows how much he can warm up after a few hours. Now imagine Thousands of servers stacked in a data center, operating 24 hours a day. The heat generated is immense, but today it is dissipated through expensive cooling systems.
This dispersed energy, known as waste heatcould instead be recovered and used to power the district heating networksas already happens in some cities in Northern Europe.
In France, some realities are already moving in this direction. In Paris, the heat recovered from the data centers is used to heat some residential buildingsa model that could be extended on a national scale. According to the Edeme data (Agency for the ecological transition), In 2020 France recovered about 5 TWH of waste heatwith the aim of reaching 8.75 TWH by 2028an increase in 75%.
Still, the potential is still little exploited. The data centers represent 43% of the heat of waste recoverable outside the industrya huge opportunities that only waits to be caught.
From theory to practice: how the heat of the data centers can heat cities
The idea of recovering the heat heat is not new. In Sweden, Denmark and Germanythe residual heat of industries and data centers is already used to feed the district heating networks.
The process is relatively simple:
- Data center servers generate heat during operation.
- A thermal exchange system captures the heat and transfers it to isolated pipes.
- The heat is distributed to buildings connected to the district heating network, reducing the gas requirement.
In Italy, district heating is widespread especially in the North, with cities such as Milan, Turin and Brescia which already use the residual heat of industrial plants to heat homes. Integrating the heat -groin heat heat into these systems could represent a decisive step to reduce our dependence on fossil sources.
Local administrations can play a fundamental role in the spread of this technology. By adopting targeted strategies, the municipalities could:
- Encourage data center construction with heat recovery systems.
- Integrate the heat heat in urban energy plans, reducing the need for natural gas.
- Create public-private partnership to develop district heating infrastructures based on alternative energy sources.
In addition to the environmental benefits, this strategy could Reduce heating costs for families And decrease the risk of energy povertyoffering a cheaper and sustainable alternative than fossil fuels.
Is Italy ready to take this opportunity?
Compared to other European countries, Italy is still behind in the adoption of these technologies. However, with the growth of the data center number on our territory, it is essential to start integrating heat recovery into new projects.
Imagine a future in which Our cities are heated thanks to the energy recovered from the data centers It is not science fiction.
It would mean:
- Reduce energy waste and CO₂ emissions.
- Lower the bills, thanks to a cheaper and more accessible heating system.
- Decrease the dependence on gas imports, making our country more independent from an energy point of view.
The recovery of waste heat represents A concrete opportunity to make artificial intelligence not only more powerful, but also more sustainable.
