For most organisations, data feels weightless. Files are uploaded to the cloud, backups run automatically, applications scale on demand. The infrastructure behind all of this is invisible — and that invisibility has allowed a significant source of corporate emissions to go largely unexamined.
Every email stored, every customer record retained, every AI model trained, every backup archive preserved has an environmental footprint. It is not large for any single file. But at the scale modern businesses now operate, it adds up to something that matters — and that regulators, investors, and sustainability frameworks are beginning to require businesses to account for.
The numbers make the point plainly. According to the IEA, data centres consumed approximately 415 TWh of electricity globally in 2024 — comparable to France’s entire annual consumption. By 2030, that figure is expected to nearly double to 945 TWh, driven by AI, cloud computing, and the continued digitisation of business. Based on IEA electricity emissions factors, a single terabyte of data stored in a US-based data centre generates around 40 kg of CO₂e per year. For a business storing hundreds or thousands of terabytes, this becomes a meaningful and measurable line item in its emissions inventory.
The Infrastructure Behind Every Digital Activity
Digital services appear clean because their physical infrastructure is somewhere else. When a company stores data in the cloud, the servers, cooling systems, networking equipment, and power infrastructure supporting that data are typically located hundreds or thousands of miles away. Out of sight, and until recently, out of mind.
But the environmental impact is real and continuous. Storage arrays must remain powered. Cooling systems operate around the clock. Networks must stay active to ensure availability, redundancy, and security. This is not a static overhead — it grows with every new file, every new application, every new AI workload added to the estate.
The growth of AI is accelerating this significantly. AI-driven workloads are expected to become one of the largest contributors to future data centre electricity demand, creating new challenges for operators, regulators, and sustainability leaders. For businesses adopting AI at scale, the energy and emissions consequences of that adoption deserve the same scrutiny as any other capital investment.
Why Renewable Energy Alone Is Not Enough
Many data centre operators have made genuine and significant progress on emissions. Investments in renewable energy procurement, power purchase agreements, energy-efficient cooling, and facility optimisation have meaningfully reduced the carbon intensity of digital infrastructure. The largest cloud providers have announced ambitious net-zero targets and spent billions on renewable energy projects. This progress is real and should be acknowledged.
But renewable energy addresses only part of the challenge.
Even a facility powered entirely by renewable electricity continues to generate emissions through the manufacturing of servers and storage hardware, the construction of facilities, supply chain transportation, backup power systems, and end-of-life equipment disposal. According to the Science Based Targets initiative, Scope 3 emissions — indirect emissions from an organisation’s value chain — typically represent the largest share of a business’s total climate impact. For digital infrastructure providers, these upstream and downstream emissions persist even as grids get cleaner.
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Renewable energy procurement is necessary. But it is not the whole answer. Residual emissions remain — and responsible businesses need a credible strategy for addressing them. |
This is why the conversation around sustainable digital infrastructure is broadening. Reducing operational emissions through renewable energy is the first step. Understanding and addressing what remains is the next one.
The Rise of Carbon-Aware Storage
Historically, businesses selected storage providers based on cost, performance, reliability, and scalability. Today, environmental performance is becoming an additional consideration — and one that is increasingly supported by data.
Carbon-aware storage means understanding the emissions associated with where and how your data is stored, and making decisions accordingly. The most important variable is geography.
Data from the European Environment Agency illustrates the scale of the difference. A data centre in Norway, where 98% of electricity comes from hydropower, has a grid carbon intensity of around 18 gCO₂/kWh. The same infrastructure in India, running on a coal-heavy grid, operates at around 708 gCO₂/kWh — nearly 40 times higher. The carbon footprint of storing one terabyte of data in Norway for a year is approximately 1 kg of CO₂e. In India, it is closer to 51 kg. Same data, same file size, entirely different climate impact.
For organisations with data distributed across multiple regions, this means the blended carbon intensity of their storage estate can vary considerably. Understanding that breakdown is the first step toward managing it.
Beyond geography, other factors also matter: the efficiency of the cooling systems, the age and efficiency of the hardware, and how the facility is powered at different times of day. Carbon-aware storage is not a single metric — it is a set of questions that responsible businesses are beginning to ask.
Sustainability Reporting Is Expanding Into Digital Infrastructure
The growing importance of digital emissions is directly tied to changes in corporate sustainability reporting. For most of the past decade, the carbon footprint of cloud infrastructure sat in a grey zone — technically a Scope 3 emission, but rarely measured or disclosed.
That is changing. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires large companies to report Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions where material. Large listed companies began reporting for fiscal year 2025, with other large companies following in phased waves through 2028. For any business storing significant volumes of data in the cloud, that storage is now a Scope 3 emissions source it is formally accountable for — not a voluntary disclosure, but a regulatory requirement.
In the US, California’s SB 253 mandates Scope 3 reporting for companies with over $1 billion in annual revenue operating in the state. Given California’s economic footprint, this captures a large portion of the global technology sector.
The practical implication is straightforward: if you operate in the EU, the UK, or California — or supply companies that do — you will need to account for your storage emissions. Organisations that begin measuring and managing this now will be better prepared than those who wait for a reporting deadline to force the issue.
Addressing the Emissions That Remain
Even the most efficient, renewable-powered data centre cannot eliminate every source of emissions. Embodied carbon in hardware, supply chain activities, and the residual carbon intensity of grids all contribute to a footprint that persists after efficiency measures have been applied.
This is where high-quality carbon credits play a legitimate and important role.
Carbon credits are frequently misunderstood as a substitute for emissions reductions. They are not. Credible climate frameworks — including those underpinning net-zero commitments — position carbon credits as a tool for addressing residual emissions that cannot yet be eliminated, while longer-term infrastructure and energy transitions continue. Used correctly, they are part of a rigorous climate strategy, not an alternative to one.
A carbon credit represents one metric tonne of CO₂e either removed from the atmosphere or avoided through a verified climate project — ranging from reforestation and regenerative agriculture to methane capture and direct air capture technologies. These projects require financing to exist and scale. Carbon markets provide that financing, channelling corporate climate commitments into real-world impact.
Quality matters enormously here. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has developed a set of Core Carbon Principles that establish global benchmarks for credit integrity, emphasising additionality, permanence, independent verification, and transparency. Organisations incorporating credits into their climate strategy should be selecting projects verified under these standards — not simply purchasing the cheapest available option.
The market's response reflects how seriously this is being taken. Voluntary carbon credit purchases have grown sharply over the past two years, with the technology sector among the most active buyers. As data infrastructure scales and regulatory pressure mounts, businesses are increasingly turning to verified carbon credits not as a last resort, but as a deliberate and immediate part of their climate strategy.
What Businesses Should Do Now
The path forward is practical, not theoretical. Here is what we recommend for any organisation looking to take its data-related emissions seriously:
1. Find out where your data lives.
Ask your cloud provider which regions host your data. The carbon intensity of those regions determines your baseline storage footprint. If you’re using multiple providers or regions, the blended figure will reflect that mix.
2. Calculate your storage emissions.
Multiply your total storage volume by the emissions factor for the relevant region — roughly 40 kg CO₂e per TB per year for a US average grid. For data stored in Europe or Asia-Pacific, the figure will vary significantly based on the local energy mix.
3. Purchase verified carbon credits to offset the residual footprint.
Choose credits verified under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard, the Gold Standard, or projects assessed against the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles. Match the scale of your purchase to your calculated storage footprint, and retire the credits on your behalf.
4. Report it accurately.
Include your storage emissions and offset activity in your sustainability report. Be precise: you are not claiming your storage is carbon-neutral, but that you have taken verified, proportionate action to address its footprint. This distinction matters as green claims face increasing scrutiny.
The Future of Sustainable Digital Infrastructure
The digital economy will continue to grow. AI, cloud computing, connected devices, and data-intensive applications are becoming foundational to how businesses operate. That growth brings an emissions obligation that businesses can no longer treat as invisible or immaterial.
At ZeroCircle, we work with businesses to make this manageable. We believe that understanding your data’s carbon footprint is not a compliance burden — it is a mark of operational maturity. The organisations that take it seriously now, ahead of regulation, ahead of customer expectation, ahead of investor scrutiny, will be better positioned in every direction.
Sustainability is no longer just about what happens on the factory floor or in the supply chain.
It is also about what happens in the cloud.
Want to learn more about how ZeroCircle helps businesses address their digital carbon footprint? Visit us at zerocircle.eco.
