Iron Mountain proactively recognized that their data center service was a key component of their customers’ Scope 2 emissions footprint and associated decarbonization goals. Accordingly, they set out to establish proof of their decarbonization to ultimately benefit not only their own business, but also their customers.
The challenge
Data centers and cloud computing represent our planet’s fastest-growing energy consumption sectors. The International Energy Agency found that global data center electricity use in 2022 was 240-340 terawatt-hours (TWh) excluding cryptocurrency mining – around 1-1.3% of global final electricity demand – making it a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (Source: International Energy Agency).
As a major owner/operator of data centers, Iron Mountain set out to move its facilities from 100% renewable energy purchased annually to a significantly more ambitious goal, 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE) – to be sure each hour of electricity used came from renewable resources and have greater impacts decarbonizing the grids where they operate.
To map and understand its progress towards this target, the company needed a solution to track and inform its carbon accounting and renewable energy purchasing to better track and manage their clean energy usage.
The Right Tool
Cleartrace is supporting Iron Mountain’s sustainability ambitions across 100+ of the company’s U.S. facilities - data centers, as well as document and fine art storage facilities - by assisting Iron Mountain and its partners in tracking and matching its clean energy sourcing with its electricity consumption and related carbon emissions - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Businesses today are increasingly focused on decarbonizing across their full value chain. As a critical component of our customers’ supply chain we are able to demonstrate our ability to help them achieve their carbon reduction goals through transactions like theseChris PenningtonDirector of Energy and SustainabilityIron Mountain Data Centerss
