Member
In São Paulo we have Itaipu hydro, but the datacenters still run diesel. OVHcloud Gravelines had the fire, remember? Their diesel was involved in that. Not saying cause, but the fuel is there, stored, risk and carbon both.
I used Contabo St. Louis for a project. Latency to Brazil terrible. Moved to local. The renewable claim never factored, price did.
Member
I find a number. The Dell R740 server, embodied carbon approximately 1.5 tonne CO2. For 1000 servers in one hall, 1500 tonne. So yes, the embodied is bigger... but only at start. The diesel is every year, every year. After year 17 the diesel win.
Most datacenter refresh faster than 17 year. So embodied still bigger, but not by so much as people think.
Following this with interest. In Melbourne the NBN datacenters have diesel, bushfire season especially. They at least call it "resilience" not "green."
I run DNS for small clients. None ask about carbon. They ask about uptime. The marketing follows the customer priority, no?
This. My clients want 99.99% and cheap. They don't read the sustainability PDF. Contabo know this. The green claim is for procurement departments at big customers, not for us small fish.
I have 3 Contabo VPS, Nuremberg and Singapore. Work fine. The diesel is abstract to me until this thread.
Member
Salam kenal all. I resell Contabo to Jakarta clients. The Singapore DC is popular, low latency. I never think about the diesel test. Now I must check if my clients care... probably not, price is king here.
But the "100% renewable" I use in my marketing too. Inherited from Contabo. Now I feel dirty a bit.
Member OP
Thank you Pierre, this is the calculation I wanted. So for a typical 5-year server life, embodied dominates. But the generator runs for the building, not one server. The building lives 30 years. Over building lifetime, diesel is massive.
And the REC? They buy from Nordic wind, probably. I check the PDF, the certificate is from Norway. Fine. But the electron in Nuremberg comes from coal and gas, the German grid. The REC is accounting fiction.
Geneva perspective: we have very strict CO2 law for new buildings. Datacenter must show lifecycle analysis. The diesel must be in it. I don't know if Contabo could build in Switzerland with this marketing.
I use Infomaniak for Swiss clients. They have solar on roof, hydro from grid, and they publish diesel test schedule. More expensive than Contabo, yes.
Member
In Argentina the diesel is for when the grid fails, which is often. No pretense of green. My seedbox clients want cheap storage, not virtue.
Contabo's claim works in EU where regulators care. Try that marketing in Buenos Aires, people laugh. Different market, same diesel.
I went to check Contabo's latest sustainability report. They changed wording! Now says "100% renewable electricity" not "100% renewable." Very small change, very big difference. The diesel is not electricity, so excluded by grammar.
Lawyer trick. I noticed because of this thread.
Member OP
When was this? I have PDF from March, says "100% renewable energy." If they changed after, maybe they read forums ;)
Can you screenshot? I am curious if this is reactive or planned.
