[LINK] Clouds of Coal

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

"If considered as a country, global telecommunications and data centers 
behind the cloud would have ranked fifth in the world for energy use in 
2007, behind the United States, China, Russia and Japan .."


Coal fuels much of internet 'cloud', says Greenpeace 

March 31, 2010 <http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news>


The 'cloud' of data which is becoming the heart of the internet is 
creating an all too real cloud of pollution as Facebook, Apple and others 
build data centers powered by coal, according to a new Greenpeace report.

A Facebook facility will rely on a utility whose main fuel is coal, while 
Apple, expecting its Web-browser iPad launch on April 3, is building a 
data warehouse in a North Carolina region powered by coal, the 
environmental organisation said in the study to be released on Tuesday.

"The last thing we need is for more cloud infrastructure to be built in 
places where it increases demand for dirty coal-fired power," concluded 
Greenpeace, which argues that web companies should be more careful about 
where they build and should lobby more in Washington, DC for clean energy.

The growing pile of home movies, pictures and business data has ballooned 
beyond the capabilities of personal computers and even average corporate 
data centers, spurring the creation of massive server farms with tens of 
thousands of specialised machines that make up the "cloud".

The report comes in the middle of a new federal debate whether to create 
caps or other measures to cut use of carbon-heavy fuels like coal and 
curb climate change.

Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google all have at least some 
centers with heavy use of coal power, said Greenpeace. The companies 
declined to give details of their data centres, but all said they 
considered the environment in business decisions, and most said they were 
aggressively pursuing efficiency.

Cheap and plentiful, coal is the top fuel for US power plants, and its 
low cost versus alternative fuels makes it attractive, even in highly 
efficient data centers.

Technology companies say they support the environment. Apple releases its 
carbon footprint, or how much greenhouse gases it produces, and Facebook 
said it chose the location for its center in order to use natural means 
to cool its machines.

Microsoft said it aimed to maximise efficiency, and Google said it 
purchased carbon offsets - funding for projects which suck up carbon - 
for emissions, including at data centers.

Yahoo, which is building a center near Buffalo, New York that Greenpeace 
saw as a model, will get energy from hydroelectric facilities, but the 
company said efficiency was the top goal, with a long narrow and tall 
building that looks like a "chicken coop" and promotes air circulation.

Data center energy use already is huge, Greenpeace said.

If considered as a country, global telecommunications and data centers 
behind the cloud would have ranked fifth in the world for energy use in 
2007, behind the United States, China, Russia and Japan, it concluded.

And the cloud may be the fastest growing portion of technology growth 
between now and 2020, said Greenpeace.

The group based its findings on a mix of data including a federal review 
of fuels in US zip codes in 2005 and a 2008 study by the Climate Group 
and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, which Greenpeace updated in 
part with US Environmental Protection Agency data.  Reuters.

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Cheers,
Stephen