Life cycle assessment of water-sourcing strategies for data centres under a decarbonizing UK grid
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Zhao, Zhenyu
Renfrew, David
Ribeiro, Joao
Shengyi, Wang
Katsou, Evina
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
The rapid growth of ICT workloads and large-scale data centres is intensifying demand on electricity and water systems. This study applies life-cycle assessment (LCA) to compare three cooling-water configurations under a decarbonizing UK grid: a base case relying on potable water with limited condensate reuse; a policy case that replaces 25% of potable supply with on-site reuse; and a future-state case in which centralized supply from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) provides the majority of cooling demand. Carbon impacts are quantified using current grid-carbon intensities. Although the base case is the lowest-energy option, it yields the highest carbon emissions due to significant blue-water demand. The policy configuration reduces emissions, while full WWTP sourcing achieves the lowest overall carbon footprint despite highest energy use. A sensitivity analysis on grid-carbon intensity in the UK further shows that future decarbonization trends increasingly favour the full-WWTP scenario. These results illustrate how grid decarbonization reshapes the environmental hierarchy of water-sourcing strategies, emphasizing the need for integrated energy–water planning to deliver low-carbon, water-resilient data centres.
Date Acceptance
2026-03-24
Publisher
IEEE
Copyright Statement
Subject to copyright. This paper is embargoed until publication. Once published the author’s accepted manuscript will be made available under a CC-BY License in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy).
License URL
Source
IEEE PES General Meeting 2026
Publication Status
Accepted
Start Date
2026-07-19
Finish Date
2026-07-23
Coverage Spatial
Montreal, Canada