Digital Crossroads , the company spending $ 40 million converting a coal - fired power station near Chicago into a data centre , is to use waste heat from the server to support agriculture at nearby Purdue farms nearby . The heat , which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere , will be routed into purpose - built turbines . The company is also considering the use of Lake Michigan water for cooling purposes . Data centres belonging to solar and Telia in Finland , Bahnhof in Sweden , and Digiplex in Norway are already reusing waste heat . Such reuse allows operators to reduce cooling costs and provides an additional source of revenue .
Digital Crossroads, the company spending $40m converting a coal-fired power station near Chicago into a data centre, is to use waste heat from the server to support agriculture at nearby Purdue University Northwest. The heat, which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, will be routed into purpose-built greenhouses. The company is also considering the use of Lake Michigan water for cooling purposes. Data centres belonging to Yandex and Telia in Finland, Bahnhof in Sweden, and Digiplex in Norway are already reusing waste heat. Such reuse allows operators to reduce cooling costs and provides an additional source of revenue.