AMD has released a study revealing shifting patterns in worldwide datacentre energy use at regional levels. The study documents energy use across five regions: the United States, Western Europe, Japan, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) and the rest of the world. This new study forecasts datacentre energy consumption, estimating that by 2010 U.S. consumption will decline relative to consumption worldwide.

This new study forecasts that based on current growth trends, the U.S. share of total world server electricity use from datacentres will likely decline from 40% in 2000 to about one-third by 2010, while the Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan) will increase its share from 10% to about 16% over that period. The absolute electricity consumption for servers in the Asia/Pacific region under this scenario would more than double from 2005 to 2010, requiring electricity capacity equal to output from two new 1000 MW power plants. For the entire world, server consumption from 2005 to 2010 would require additional capacity equal to more than 10 additional 1000 MW power plants.

“Our hope is that this research helps bridge the gap between knowledge and action by furthering worldwide understanding of the economic and environmental costs associated with escalating datacentre energy consumption,” said Bruce Shaw, director, Server and Workstation Marketing, AMD.

The report shows that electricity used by servers in the United States and Europe currently comprise about two thirds of the world’s total, with Japan, Asia/Pacific and the rest of the world each falling at between 10 and 15% of the total. Examining electricity use by region from 2000 to 2005, the study found that server electricity use in the Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan) grew at a 23% annual rate, compared to a world average of 16% a year, making this region the only one with server electricity use growing at a rate significantly greater than the world average. The Western European growth rate of 17% was slightly above the world average, while growth rates in the other regions were lower than the world average.