June 2012
FEATURES
Dear EarthTalk: Why is Green-
peace upset with some leading tech
companies for so-called “dirty cloud
computing?” Can you explain?
– Jeremy Wilkins, Waco, TX
Leading tech companies like Google,
A pple and Microsoft are now of-
fering unprecedented amounts of
data storage and access to “apps”
on huge Internet-connected servers,
saving consumers and businesses
the hassle of installing and running
programs and storing information
on their own local computers.
This emerging trend, dubbed
“cloud computing,” means that
these providers have had to scale
up their power consumption con-
siderably, as they are increasingly
responsible for providing more and
more of the computing horsepower
required by the world’s two billion
Internet users.
No doubt, sharing such resources
on centralized servers is more ef-
ficient than every individual and
business running their own versions
separately.
In fact, the research firm Verdantix
estimates that companies off-load-
ing data and services to cloud serv-
ers could save $12 billion off their
energy bills and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions by 85 million metric
tons within the next decade.
But for the greenhouse gas sav-
ings to be realized, the companies
offering cloud computing services
need to make the right energy
choices.
Greenpeace has been tracking
sustainability among tech compa-
nies for over a decade, and recently
released a report, “How Green is
Your Cloud?” assessing the green
footprint of the move to cloud
computing.
According to the analysis, some
of the major players (Google, Face-
book and Yahoo) have gone to great
lengths to ensure that significant
amounts of the power they need
come from clean, green sources like
wind and solar.
But Greenpeace chastises others
(Apple, Amazon and Microsoft)
for relying on so-called “dirtier”
sources of power, such as coal and
nuclear, to run their huge data
centers.
“When people around the world
share their music or photos on the
cloud, they want to know that the
cloud is powered by clean, safe
energy,” says Gary Cook, a Senior
Policy Analyst with Greenpeace.
“Yet highly innovative and profit-
able companies like Apple, Amazon
and Microsoft are building data
centers powered by coal and acting
like their customers won’t know or
won’t care. They’re wrong.”
Greenpeace’s report evaluates 14
major tech firms and the electricity
supply chains in use across more
than 80 different data centers that
power cloud-based services.
Some of the largest data centers
are in buildings so big they are vis-
ible from space and use as much
power as 250,000 European homes.
If the cloud were its own country,
says Greenpeace, it would rank 5th
in the world in electricity consump-
tion.
“Companies like Google, Yahoo
and Facebook are beginning to
lead the sector down a clean energy
pathway through innovations in
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The Southwest Portland Post • 5
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: The United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development is a new attempt in a new millennium to “lay the
foundations of a world of prosperity, peace and sustainability.” It's scheduled
for June 20-22. (Photo courtesy of Artyom Sharbatam)
energy efficiency, prioritizing re-
newable energy access when siting
their data centers, and demanding
better energy options from utilities
and government decision-makers,”
reports Greenpeace.
But unfortunately the majority of
the industry is not marching in step.
As such, Greenpeace is calling
on all tech companies with cloud
services to develop siting policies
based on access to clean energy
sources.
Those policies include: invest in or
directly purchase renewable energy,
be transparent about their energy
usage, share innovative solutions so
the sector as a whole can improve,
and demand that governments and
utilities increase the percentage of
clean, green power available on the
grid.
Contacts: Verdantix, www.ver-
dantix.com; Greenpeace, www.
greenpeace.org.
EarthTalk® is written and edited by
Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a
registered trademark of E - The Envi-
ronmental Magazine. Send questions
to: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
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