As enterprises scale to meet the demands of AI, sustainability challenges facing data centres continue to mount.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc has released the Decarbonising Data report, revealing that energy usage is now a top concern for over half (53.5%) of business leaders.

Goldman Sachs Research forecasts global power demand from data centres will increase by as much as 165% by 2030. The rising data volumes, slowing power efficiency gains, and increasing AI adoption are putting pressure on organisations to manage carbon emissions, infrastructure expansion, and total cost of ownership (TCO) – all at once.

The report discovered several key factors for the future of data centre sustainability

The vast majority (94.5%) of respondents reported increasing data storage needs, with 97% anticipating AI’s growth to further impact storage demand.

Nearly 95% of respondents are concerned about environmental impact, but only 3.3% prioritise it in purchasing decisions.

Top barriers in driving sustainability at data centres include: high energy consumption (53.5%), raw material requirements (49.5%), physical space constraints (45.5%), infrastructure costs (28.5%), and acquisition costs (27%).

Further, the majority (92.2%) acknowledge the importance of extending the life cycle of storage equipment, but only 15.5% consider it a top purchasing factor.

“Data centers are under intense scrutiny – not only because they support modern AI workloads, but because they are becoming one of the most energy-intensive sectors of the digital economy,” said Jason Feist, senior vice president of cloud marketing, Seagate.

“This calls for a fundamental shift in how we think about data infrastructure – not as a trade-off between cost and sustainability, but as an opportunity to optimize for both.”

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As organisations expand their data capabilities, they face three options: improve efficiency within existing infrastructure, expand data centre footprint, or migrate workloads to the cloud.

Each option involves trade-offs between cost, carbon, and control, indicating that total cost of ownership and sustainability can be compatible goals.

Decisions on energy consumption, space utilisation, raw material use, and infrastructure investment now impact both business performances and environmental outcomes.

The report outlines some key strategic recommendations for building a more sustainable data future.

Technological innovation remains a key driver of sustainable transformation, the report says, pointing to advances in computational power, storage areal density, and energy efficient technologies like liquid/immersion cooling, and HVAC systems, which can lower energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Committing to extending the life cycle of devices and the circularity of hardware reduce waste. Real-time environmental and transparent reporting can foster accountability across the data centre environment.

The report also urges the sharing of accountability across the ecosystem to achieve meaningful emissions reduction.

“Sustainability cannot be solved in isolation. A holistic approach spanning infrastructure, life cycle management, and industry-wide accountability could ensure that the growth of AI and data center operations does not come at the expense of the environment,” said Jason Feist.