ClearTrace, a leading energy and carbon accounting platform, has announced that Iron Mountain has selected the company to provide hourly energy and carbon analysis for all of its data centres across the United States.
As part of the platform, ClearTrace is providing Iron Mountain with advanced digital infrastructure to analyse their data centres’ energy usage and carbon impact on a 24/7 hourly basis, delivering 100 per cent traceable and verifiable energy and carbon records. The data and analysis that ClearTrace provides will enable Iron Mountain to work with its suppliers to procure renewables that match its current hourly shortfalls and then achieve true 100 per cent 24/7 carbon-free energy consumption.
“We are fully committed to achieving 100 per cent clean energy for our data centre customers, every hour of every day,” said Chris Pennington, director of energy and sustainability at Iron Mountain Data Centers. “After a successful pilot with ClearTrace, we are excited for the insights their technology will provide in support of our commitment to 24/7 carbon-free energy. Knowing where we are throughout the journey towards complete decarbonisation is critical for accurate reporting and credible results.”
Alongside tech giants Google and Microsoft, Iron Mountain is moving forwards with 24/7 load-matched renewables as part of their decarbonisation strategy. This 24/7 method, compared to purchasing renewables on an annual match basis, tangibly reduces carbon emissions and, according to a recent study by Princeton Zero Lab, will make the broader transition to 100 per cent carbon-free energy more affordable and achievable. Three of Iron Mountain’s campuses have already begun tracking their energy performance. Now, with ClearTrace, its additional seven data centre campuses can be tracked to the same level of granular hourly performance.
Data centre emissions are known for being both critical and difficult to decarbonise. For most large companies, data centre carbon emissions are part of their Scope 3 emissions, the types of emissions they need their vendors to decarbonise on their behalf.
“The world’s top businesses need data to be stored in carbon-free data centres to achieve their ESG goals,” said Lincoln Payton, CEO at ClearTrace. “We are honoured to work with Iron Mountain to lead the path forward for 100 per cent carbon-free data centres.”
