This startup wants to use heat from data centers to warm swimming pools

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A UK-based startup is aiming to heat swimming pools with its data centers. According to BBC News, Deep Green is using the heat generated by a “washing-machine-sized” server rig to heat the water in Exmouth Leisure Centre’s 25-meter (82 foot) public swimming pool. Its “digital boilers” are a pretty clever idea, and can reduce the environmental impact of both the swimming pool and the server. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centers and data transmission networks account for between 1 and 1.5 percent of global electricity use and are collectively responsible for around 1 percent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions (or 0.6 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions). While that might not sound like a lot, it puts it in the same ballpark as aviation and shipping, which are responsible for 1.7 percent and 1.9 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.
While the digital boiler can’t heat Exmouth Leisure Center’s pool entirely on its own, it is able to keep the water at a comfortable 86ºF roughly 60 percent of the time. While the gas boiler is still necessary to top up the water temperature, Deep Green claims that its system saves the pool over £20,000 (~$24,000) per year and reduces its annual CO2 emissions by almost 26 tons. Sean Day, who runs the leisure center, told BBC News: “The partnership has really helped us reduce the costs of what has been astronomical over the last 12 months—our energy prices and gas prices have gone through the roof.”