Iomart : What's our sustainable (super) power source?

COP 26 has been dominating the headlines around the world this month(you can read our blog 'Why is COP26 important?' here). But, instead of focusing on the gaggle of world leaders over at the global climate change conference, we're here to talk about superheroes(don't worry, we've not lost it!).

What's our sustainable (super) power source?

COP 26 has been dominating the headlines around the world this month(you can read our blog 'Why is COP26 important?' here). But, instead of focusing on the gaggle of world leaders over at the global climate change conference, we're here to talk about superheroes(don't worry, we've not lost it!).

In 1938 some clever soul over at Action Comics (as it was known then) came up with a brand new super hero. It was a character that would come to epitomise what it meant to be a comic book crusader.

That character wasSuperman.

Superman's incredible powers came from the Earth's Sun. And that is one of the only things that we can legitimately claim to have in common with the Man of Steel - well apart from the smouldering good looks of course!

That's because we also get (at least some of) our power from the Sun.

Unfortunately, as has been well documented in recent years, the tech industry doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to our green credentials. But we've taken Superman's lead and moved towards a more natural source of power, to do our bit in tackling the impacts of climate change

What actions are we taking now to help the global climate?

So, given that COPand the climate crisishas been the focus of just about every conversation recently, we thought it'd be a good time to talk about what we're doing to be a more sustainable business, reduce our emissions and do our bit to help limit global warming (see, told you we'd get to the point eventually!).

The vast, vast majority of our energy use comes in the form of electricity. And most of that is used to cool our data centres. It is an absolutely essential process for what we do so it's not something we can do without.

However, over the last 10 years, as the globaltemperature rises, we have been working closely with our energy partner, Schneider Electric, and we've made real progress in how we source our power.

Most recently, in the last three or four years, we have really turned our focus to improving our sustainability credentials. And this isn't just a tick box for us. Yes, we have the usual paper work - ISO 50001 and ISO 14001 for example) - but we're looking beyond the bare necessities.

We've gone back to the source, looking at how we make our energy supply greener. That has led us to completely restructure how we purchase our electricity. This change means that all of our data centres are now powered entirely by renewable energy with 100% coming from natural renewable sources such as solar, wind and hydro.

It's not just about changing our source though (this is where we actually go one up on Supes).

What are our plans to reduce our emissions going forward?

We aim to be much smarter about how we analyse our energy consumption. This means that, together with Schneider, we'll be looking at which of our sites perform well from an energy point of view and which could do with some work. We'll also look at which sites are producing the largest carbon footprint and start to make decisions that could help us reduce that impact.

So, we might not be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…yet. But we are making significant progress in ensuring that the source of our power is just as environmentally friendly as The Last Son of Krypton's.

If you'd like to find out more about how we can help, get in touch.