Deliverable 3.1 RIs Landscape review, best practices analysis and identification of needs within the ESFRI RIs

This deliverable reports on the landscape analysis of digital Research Infrastructure (RI) practices and identified needs and gaps in existing practices, approaches, metrics, and tools in addressing environmental sustainability and impact lowering impact.

GreenDIGIT established a dedicated methodology to achieve insightful results. The work took place from March to November 2024 and involved three main stages: preparation, survey and interviews, and analysis of results with identification of key aspects. Key elements included desk research to define criteria, interactions with ESFRI DIGIT, careful development of the survey and interview materials with project partners, direct contact with RIs, and collaborative analysis with GreenDIGIT partners. From the outset, we defined the target survey participants as DIGIT RIs and RIs offering digital services.

The desk research phase for criteria identification enabled us to pinpoint key references, such as the European Code of Conduct for Data Centre Energy Management (EU DC CoC), European standards for data centre design and operation (EN50600), as well as international standards like ISO 50001, ISO 50002, ISO 14002, and ISO 30134, along with various technical publications and research on digital research infrastructures. We prioritized the criteria based on the EU DC CoC’s prioritization framework, which we expanded slightly. This approach allowed us to establish the main sets of questions for the survey, which are about: energy consumption and energy efficiency, energy efficiency practices, impact of digital technologies (notably for digital RIs), renewable energy use, waste heat recovery, carbon emissions and greenhouse gas (GHG) management, waste management and recycling, and water usage. Additionally, the survey includes questions on other, lower-priority topics, asking participants whether they take actions in these areas and, if so, to describe those actions. We also checked the consistency of our survey with the Environmental considerations of the ESFRI Roadmap 2026.

Through the online survey and through interviews we managed to gather input about the landscape from: i) 3 DIGIT RIs that are on the ESFRI Roadmap: SLICES, EBRAINS, SoBigData, (ii) two European e-Infrastructure with the largest provider network: EGI and GÉANT, (iii) CERN: an EIRO with a large IT center, (iv) two thematic ESFRIs: CLARIN in language sciences and ELI-BEAMS in laser physics, and (v) two national/regional IT operators: Switch (CH) and University of Freiburg (DE). Most of the respondents are distributed RIs and their answers represent a larger number of stakeholders, so the total number of entities we reached with the survey is over 50. The survey data was complemented with a desk study of the HPC landscape through the TOP500 and GREEN500 lists.

The results of the survey highlight the diversity of situations regarding the environmental impact of digital research infrastructures. While most are fully aware of the challenges, and the results show progress, particularly in renewable energy use and energy efficiency, the majority remain at an early stage, lacking methodologies, policies, and resources to facilitate the transition. Thanks to the survey, not only was it acknowledged that there is still ample room for improvement (a non-trivial result), but it also became possible to measure its actual worth quantitatively. Existing approaches are often limited to energy consumption and rely on in-house methods that are difficult to integrate into more holistic carbon and waste management practices. However, a few have already implemented good practices, which can serve as a valuable resource for others. Sharing and benefiting from these best practices represents a clear call to collaborate to structure future efforts. Finally, it will be essential to discuss with ESFRI what steps should be taken to organize and promote best practices and potentially establish common policies.

[This deliverable is pending approval from the European Commission]