Glass Chips: Less Cooling Needed in Data Centers

Worldwide, more power plants are being built to meet the growing energy hunger of data centers. In the spirit of Green IT, however, it would be better to instead increase the efficiency of data centers. One way: replacing silicon as a storage medium with glass chips.

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Bad news for friends of DVDs. As Warner Bros. just confirmed, many of them, especially those from the years 2006 to 2008, are literally rotting. Glass, on the other hand, has long been considered a possible candidate to preserve text, images, sound and video data forever.

A Euronews section “The Big Question” now suggests that glass, combined with photonics, could be the answer to how data centers become more efficient through the alternative storage medium. The goal is that this will not constantly require new power plants to meet their energy hunger, and at the same time reduce costs.

Because, according to the International Energy Agency, data centers already account for about 1.0 to 1.5 percent of global electricity consumption. In Ireland, with its many data centers, it is even 20 percent. If capacities continue to grow at this rate, all data centers together would already consume about 1,000 terawatt-hours of electricity per year by 2026, which is roughly as much as Japan.

Glass chips have negligible cooling needs

A challenge that can be solved by employing photonics and glass as an alternative material for such chips. Photonic chips process and store data using light rather than electricity. They are used across data communications and also as lab‑on‑a‑chip (LOC) devices for health applications, autonomous driving, and engineering. The global photonics market already reached approximately 983.5 billion Euro (906.6 billion Euro) in 2024 and is projected to grow to 1.642.6 billion Euro by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights.

Google is currently the only company deploying photonics at scale. The tech giant and hyperscaler thus reduced its data‑center energy consumption by 40 percent – and saved substantial costs on building out network infrastructure. The Milan‑based firm Ephos manufactures such photonic chips and is a disruptive player in the industry because it replaces silicon with glass in its chips. However, Google currently uses only silicon chips, CEO and founder Andrea Rocchetto said in a video contribution of „The Big Question“. Glass chips would be 20 times more energy‑efficient.

Ephos promises 50 percent savings

„”We build chips out of glass. Glass has a special property. It is the same material used to make fiber optics. By using the same material as for fiber optics, we can minimize a type of signal loss that occurs when you glue a fiber optic cable and a chip together“, the Ephos CEO further explains. The company’s glass chips would also operate at room temperature.

This means significantly less cooling effort, which would make companies building new data centers less dependent on countries or regions where it is naturally colder, such as Ireland, Iceland, or the northern parts of Scandinavia, and where cooling would otherwise be essentially free.

Ten percent of a data center’s energy costs would be attributed to networking, 40 percent to cooling. “By using photonic technologies like those from Ephos, around 50 percent of the costs can thus be saved”, Rocchetto says.

Security Aspects of the New Technology

What are glass chips for data centers? Photonic chips made of glass process and transmit data using light instead of electricity. Less waste heat, lower cooling demand and potential energy savings make them relevant for data centers and their physical as well as logical security architecture.

Shifting to photonic‑based infrastructure also has security implications. Optical signals are fundamentally harder to tap than electrical – physically tapping fiber optics requires significantly more effort and causes measurable signal loss. For data centers handling sensitive information, a photonic architecture could therefore provide an additional security advantage.

At the same time, the technology raises new questions: How secure are the manufacturing processes? How resilient is the supply chain for specialized glass chips? And how does the attack surface change when optical networks replace electrical ones in data centers? The security community is closely watching this development.

Location selection becomes more flexible

Previously, hyperscalers had to factor in cooling when choosing data center locations – a reason why Scandinavia, Iceland, and Ireland are preferred sites. Glass chips that operate at room temperature would reduce this dependency. Data centers could be built closer to users, reducing latency and strengthening digital sovereignty – an aspect that is increasingly relevant for European companies and DSGVO compliance.

Key Facts at a Glance

Global data center electricity consumption: 1.0-1.5 percent of global consumption, forecast 2026: about 1,000 TWh per year

Ireland: 20 percent of national electricity consumption from data centers

Google savings: 40 percent less energy consumption through photonics

Glass vs. silicon: 20 times more energy efficient according to Ephos

Overall savings: Up to 50 percent of data center costs (10% networking + 40% cooling)

Photonics market: 984 billion USD (2024) → 1,643 billion USD (2032)

Fact: Data centers consume roughly 1.5 percent of global electricity demand worldwide, according to IEA – trend rising.

Fact: Gartner predicts that by 2028 over 30 percent of all new data centers will adopt energy‑efficient chip technologies of the next generation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Every question is locked. A tap unlocks the answer.

What are photonic chips?

Photonic chips use light instead of electrical current to process and transmit data. They are used in data communications, in lab‑on‑a‑chip devices in the healthcare sector, in autonomous driving and in engineering. By using light, they operate more energy‑efficiently and generate less waste heat.

Why is glass better than silicon for photonic chips?

Glass is the same material that fiber optics are made of. When the chip and the fiber optic are fabricated from the same material, signal losses at the interface are eliminated. Moreover, glass chips operate at room temperature, drastically reducing cooling requirements – according to Ephos, they are 20 times more energy efficient than silicon‑based photonic chips.

How much electricity do data centers currently consume?

According to the International Energy Agency, data centers account for about 1.0 to 1.5 percent of global electricity consumption. At current growth rates, they will consume around 1,000 terawatt-hours by 2026 — roughly equivalent to the entire electricity usage of Japan. In Ireland, data centers already account for 20 percent of the country’s electricity consumption.

Is anyone already using photonics in data centers?

Google is currently the only company deploying photonics at scale, which has enabled it to cut the energy consumption of its data centers by 40 percent. However, Google is currently using silicon-based photonic chips. The Milan-based startup Ephos is developing the next generation using glass as its base material.

What security advantages do optical networks offer?

Optical signals are fundamentally harder to intercept than electrical ones. Tapping fiber physically requires more effort and causes measurable signal loss. For data centers handling sensitive data, photonics therefore potentially offers an additional security advantage.

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