[LINK] Energy Use From Wireless Networks Will Dwarf Data Center Use By 2015

[jore]

from /.

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/04/09/0218214/energy-use-from-wireless-networks-will-dwarf-data-center-use-by-2015

/"New research
<http://www.ceet.unimelb.edu.au/pdfs/ceet_white_paper_wireless_cloud.pdf> (PDF)
from an Australian university argues that increased carbon emissions
from powering data centers aren't the biggest environmental threat from
the growth of cloud computing. Instead, the problem is the Wi-Fi and
cellular networks increasingly used to access cloud services. By 2015,
the energy used to run data centers will be a 'drop in the ocean'
compared to the energy used to power wireless access to services
<http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/458439/cloud_real_ecological_timebomb_wireless_data_centres/>.
By 2015 the energy consumption associated with 'wireless cloud' will
reach 43 terawatt-hours, compared to 9.2 terawatt-hours in 2012 (an
increase in carbon footprint from 6 megatons of CO_2 in 2012, up to 30
megatons of CO_2 in 2015). Data centers will comprise only 9 per cent on
this increased energy consumption, compared to up to 90 per cent for
wireless access."/