T.Loop on Why Wasted Energy is an Untapped Asset – Insights from Techarena Zero 2024

At Techarena Zero 2024, T.Loop’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Cecilia Hjertzell, delivered an impactful message: the data center industry must rethink its wasteful habits and see sustainability as both an urgent responsibility and a powerful opportunity. Here’s a closer look at T.Loop’s approach to transforming data centers into efficient, community-supporting energy assets, along with some insights Cecilia shared at Techarena and at a Cradlenet roundtable.

The Issue: A Shockingly Large Wasted Resource

Let’s start with a surprising figure: 460 terawatt-hours (TWh). That’s the amount of heat energy data centers worldwide waste every year. To put it in perspective, this is enough to warm 37 cities the size of Stockholm. And the situation is only escalating. By 2026, that figure could reach a staggering 1000 TWh, which is roughly the energy output of up to 35 - 42 nuclear reactors.

Currently, many data centers are located in cold, environmentally sensitive regions like the Arctic for optimal cooling. However, the irony is that despite the enormous potential of these centers to repurpose waste heat, it is often simply vented away, ignored as a resource. The message here is clear: the industry must shift its perspective. This wasted energy holds an estimated value of 50 to 100 billion euros—a staggering asset lost to inefficiency.

T.Loop’s Solution: Rethinking Data Centers as Energy Providers

T.Loop's innovative approach redefines the purpose of a data center. Rather than focusing solely on data storage capacity, T.Loop designs Data Energy Centers® with 100% waste heat recovery as a fundamental principle. Each center is positioned within existing buildings, with its data storage capacity optimized specifically to allow full recovery and redistribution of generated heat. This recovered heat is then used to warm the buildings where the centers are located, neighboring structures, or even entire district heating networks. By channeling heat back into the community, T.Loop turns what was once wasted energy into a valuable, community-supporting resource.

But there’s another untapped asset hiding in plain sight within these centers: backup energy reserves. Data centers generally hold backup battery and generator capacity, primarily intended for emergencies. T.Loop’s centers, however, utilize this reserve to support the electricity grid, participating in grid balancing and peak shaving. By helping to stabilize the grid when demand spikes, T.Loop’s centers don’t just provide power backup—they actively contribute to grid efficiency, making a sustainable impact far beyond the data center itself.

Green Legislation as Opportunity: Insights from Cradlenet Roundtable

Beyond energy efficiency, Cecilia and other leaders from Bower, Foxway Group, Fairphone, Grover and Lisa& at a recent Cradlenet roundtable discussed how EU green legislation is driving opportunities for companies with circular, sustainable models. EU directives like the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Renewable Energy Directive, and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive are increasingly reshaping the business landscape. For T.Loop, these directives reinforce the relevance of integrating sustainable practices into the core of operations, making energy reuse not only a regulatory benefit but also a core strategic advantage.

The roundtable underscored that regulatory compliance alone won’t suffice. For businesses truly committed to sustainability, the bar must be set higher—companies need to embody circularity and environmental stewardship. As emphasized around the table, regulations can serve as essential “market glue,” but businesses must internalize these values to drive authentic change.

A Call for Industry-Wide Change

Cecilia’s presentation at Techarena was a call to action: we must stop viewing data centers as single-purpose facilities and start recognizing them as potential energy providers and community assets. T.Loop has made this choice, setting a bold example in building Data Energy Centers® designed to support community heating, stabilize grids, and operate in harmony with their surroundings.

As more industry leaders explore sustainable models, we hope they too will see the potential of using waste energy as a valuable resource. Data centers, in T.Loop’s vision, are not only information hubs but also critical players in our transition to sustainable energy solutions.

It’s time for the industry to embrace this mindset, to see beyond data capacity, and to recognize the immense possibilities for positive impact.