BMW is two-thirds of the way through a three-year green IT
programme to improve the efficiency of its data centres.
In Munich BMW’s data centres are taking ground water from the
city council to cool the data centre using a heat exchanger. BMW
pumps the water from its Munich data centre back into the water
system at a more manageable temperature, which warms up the mains
water coming out of household taps in winter. BMW is also using gas
from a waste dump, to generate electricity for its data centre in
South Carolina.
In this interview Cliff Saran speaks to Bennie Vorster, vice
president, IT solutions & technology standards at BMW Group
about the programme, which is using renewable energy resources to
lower cooling costs in its data centres.