Equinix announced a partnership with the National University of Singapore's Centre for Energy Research and Technology (CERT) to develop data center infrastructure technology for tropical regions that uses green hydrogen as a source of fuel.

Green hydrogen is a source of sustainable fuel when it's burned using renewable power sources. This allows it to only generates energy in the form of heat with water as a by-product. As internet traffic and demand for data rises, green hydrogen is becoming an increasingly plausible energy source for the data center industry.

This partnership marks the world's inaugural research project to examine proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells compared to fuel-flexible linear generator technologies to find out if these types of advanced hydrogen power technologies would actually be able to power data centers at scale. The project chose to study PEM fuel cells because they're a top contender in terms of hydrogen energy and only require hydrogen and oxygen to generate power. Some types of PEM fuel cells can also run the process in reverse, using water and electricity to produce pure hydrogen for future use.

Fuel-flexible linear generators are attractive options as they allow operators to alternate between various different fuel options, including hydrogen, biogas, and other renewable liquid fuels.

Equinix and CERT plan to assess these technologies for use in tropical data centers by considering local climate conditions, site constraints, supply chain, power demand, local regulatory policies, and fuel storage capabilities. The adoption of these technologies has the potential to reduce data center carbon emissions while sustaining the industry's growth trajectory.

"Data centers serve as the conduit powering the digital economy, and greening their operations can drive the rise of sustainable business throughout the broader economic landscape," Yee May Leong, Equinix South Asia Managing Director, said in a statement. This partnership "empowers us with the combined experience and expertise to advance the growth of digital economies in line with environmental obligations, benefiting the data center industry, global economies, and the planet," Leong added.

Equinix says it will use results of the project to develop proof-of-concept projects in its network of data centers for "real-world testing," which will provide support for future incorporation into its data centers.