10003392Carbon Forest Products: 3D heatsinks manufactured from sustainably sourced lignin carbon.ClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKCarbon Forest Products working with the University of Exeter's Centre for Additive Layer Manufacturing, want to transform the computer server heatsink market, through the development of innovative 3D Carbon heatsinks. Carbon Forest Products have demonstrated the novel capability of creating 3D printed carbon, a waste by-product of the paper industry. Through this project Carbon Forest Products will expand on this work, developing heatsinks made from renewable forestry feedstock which will be manufactured through selective laser sintering, providing a significantly lower carbon impact alternative to metal heatsinks, with additional thermal and light-weighting benefits. Microprocessor thermal efficiency has not kept pace with continued miniaturisation, creating a thermal dissipation technical challenge, affecting microprocessor design and data centre operational efficiency in terms of cooling demand and server density. Cloud operations comprising thousands of servers working together generate tremendous amounts of heat, with 40% of data centre energy typically consumed to meet server cooling demands. The global heatsinks market is estimated to reach £7.55bn by 2026, driven by demand for cloud computing, with a surge in demand due to an increase in remote working caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, further accelerating the need for energy efficient and environmentally sustainable equipment.