Data Centers and Decarbonization

What if data centers could actually help solve the climate crisis instead of just consuming massive amounts of energy? Chris Pennington is Director of Energy and Sustainability for Iron Mountain Data Centers, leading the charge toward 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2040. How did a college student looking for part-time work become a global energy strategy pioneer? His story perfectly illustrates the evolution of corporate sustainability thinking—from operational efficiency to industry-wide decarbonization. "The story actually began when I answered a newspaper ad," Pennington reveals, describing his path from frontline operations to sustainability leadership. Today, he positions Iron Mountain as a digital utility that enables widespread decarbonization across entire industries. What makes this approach revolutionary? As Goldman Sachs projects 160% growth in global data center power demand by 2030, Pennington's co-location model aggregates customer loads to achieve unprecedented efficiency gains. He explains their pioneering Green Power Pass product and grid flexibility solutions, including battery systems that can disconnect entire data centers from the grid while maintaining critical operations. But can data centers really become part of the climate solution rather than just the problem? Chris Pennington serves as Director of Energy and Sustainability for Iron Mountain Data Centers, where he leads global energy strategy and sustainability initiatives. With over 30 years at Iron Mountain, Chris has transformed from frontline operations to become a pioneering voice in data center decarbonization. He architected Iron Mountain's transition to 100% clean power matching and established the company's ambitious 24/7 carbon-free energy goal by 2040. Chris champions the co-location model as a digital utility that enables widespread industry decarbonization, having developed the first-to-market Green Power Pass for credible clean energy attribution. His expertise spans energy procurement, grid flexibility solutions, and sustainable data center design, positioning him at the forefront of the industry's evolution toward net-zero operations. In This Episode: (00:00) Introduction of guest Chris Pennington, data center sustainability overview (03:48) Career journey from newspaper ad to Iron Mountain operations (07:00) Energy management role creation and building sustainability strategy (10:32) Age of adoption story through four chapters of evolution (14:07) Co-location model as digital utility for customer decarbonization (19:31) Future grid flexibility solutions and battery storage innovations Share with someone who would enjoy this topic, like and

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Data Centers and Decarbonization is an episode from Raising Your Antenna by Keith Zakheim.

This episode is 00:22:08 long.

This episode was published on Jul 23, 2025.

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